“His mother’s apartment in Paris has been seized by the creditors.”

“They have nothing.”

“They have their liberty,” Lena said.

“For now.”

“The federal prosecutor is reviewing the tax filings from five years ago.”

Philip stood up suddenly.

His chair scraped loudly against the carpet.

“This is a personal vendetta,” he said.

“You wanted the name.”

“Now you’ve ruined it.”

“The name was already ruined, Philip,” I said.

“I am simply cleaning up the debris.”

He looked at Daniel, but Daniel did not look back.

Daniel was already packing his leather briefcase.

“Sign the papers, Philip,” Daniel said.

“It is the only way to avoid the secondary indictments.”

Philip looked around the room.

None of the other board members would meet his eye.

They were all men my father had hired, men who had stayed silent while Grant ran the company into the ground.

They knew where the power was now.

Philip took a heavy black pen from his pocket.

He bent over the table and signed his name three times.

He threw the pen onto the table and walked out of the room.