Chapter 15 - MY FATHER TRIED TO STOP THE REPORT
The problem became public when a reporter requested foundation tax filings connected to restitution expenses.
Perfectly legal.
Perfectly predictable.
My father panicked.
He called.
“You cannot publish the internal provenance report.”
“It’s already scheduled.”
“Janevra.”
“No.”
“You’ll destroy what remains of the family reputation.”
I laughed.
“Father, the family reputation survived arranged marriage, financial fraud investigations, and you trying to replace my husband with his cousin.”
“That is not funny.”
“A little.”
---
He arrived at the estate that night.
This time he asked permission.
Growth.
Small.
He sat across from Elio and me.
“No lawyers?” I asked.
“I came as your father.”
Dangerous phrase.
Still.
I listened.
---
He said:
“If you publish the report, Moretti companies could face claims.”
“Maybe.”
“Old transactions.”
“Maybe.”
“Insurance disputes.”
“Yes.”
“Tax review.”
“Yes.”
He stared.
“And you are comfortable with that?”
“No.”
Good.
“I’m not comfortable.”
I leaned forward.
“But discomfort is not the standard.”
---
My father looked toward Elio.
“You agree with this?”
Elio’s voice was quiet.
“I hate it.”
That surprised him.
Elio continued:
“I hate that my father’s name is in those records.”
“I hate that some of the business assets I inherited may have been contaminated by things I never chose.”
Then:
“But Janevra is right.”
Victoriao looked away.
I almost laughed.
There are sentences my father probably once believed impossible.
---
Then he said:
“Your grandfather would call this betrayal.”
I thought.
“Probably.”
“And?”
“And he’s dead.”
My father’s eyes snapped toward me.
I continued:
“Lucia isn’t.”
Silence.
“I care more about what my daughter inherits than what my grandfather would have thought.”
That ended it.
Not the relationship.
May you like
The argument.
---
