Grandpa’s audit documented everything. For six years, Dad had quietly charged personal expenses to Kincaid Industrial, including Brianne’s leased Audi and renovations to his lake house. Even the $4,500 he’d borrowed from me two weeks earlier wasn’t what he’d claimed. Dad needed the money to temporarily cover a hole before the company’s year-end review. Grandpa had discovered the missing $1.3 million shortly before dying and deliberately left the final decision to me.

I didn’t confront anyone that night. I let my family enjoy their engagement party. But on December twenty-seventh, I entered Kincaid Industrial’s boardroom with my attorney and Mr. Pike’s documents. Dad sat at the head of the table, proudly announcing that Brianne and her fiancé, Pierce, would join the leadership team the following year. Then Dad noticed me taking the chair at the opposite end. Brianne turned toward me, confused at first. But when she saw the documents in front of me, her smile disappeared.