It had been sent by Sophia to Richard six weeks earlier.
Dad,
I know the signatures are not mine.
I also know Marcus authorized the transfers.
Please don’t tell me again this is an accounting mistake.
I want every document by Friday or I’m taking this outside the family.
Richard had replied:
Let me fix it.
Please do not involve Ethan while he is deployed.
My chest tightened.
Sophia had known.
Richard had known.
And neither had told me.
Another email followed nine days later.
Richard to Sophia:
Marcus made mistakes. He is trying to correct them. If this becomes public, hundreds of employees could suffer.
Sophia replied:
That does not give him permission to use my name.
I sat back.
“So the attack happened because of the financial records?”
“We don’t know yet.”
But Chen’s expression told me she believed the two were connected.
Later that afternoon, Sophia was strong enough for a longer interview.
I was allowed to stay only because she asked.
She spoke slowly.
Marcus had been using Carter Freight to fund an expansion that went badly.
Two warehouse projects ran over budget.
A major client canceled.
Instead of telling Richard and the lenders how serious the problem was, Marcus moved money between affiliated companies and arranged financing using documents Sophia never signed.
When Sophia discovered it, she confronted Richard.
“He said he would fix it,” she whispered.
“Did he?”
“No.”
Richard kept asking for more time.
Then Sophia found evidence that Marcus had copied her signature from an old shareholder consent.
