Chapter 4
The power of attorney had been used before.
That discovery came the next day.
Not for millions.
For smaller things.
A tax extension.
An insurance renewal.
A vendor contract.
A bank-account update.
All actions Gavin could plausibly describe as household administration.
Sienna had known about some.
Not others.
Over seven years, the old authority had become background machinery.
That was how it survived.
No dramatic abuse.
No enormous transfer.
Just convenience.
Until now.
Rebecca asked the obvious question.
“Why didn’t he ask you to sign the refinance directly?”
Sienna laughed without humor.
“Because I would have asked why five million dollars was leaving Southline.”
Daniel nodded.
Cole Meridian Development had problems.
A luxury condominium project in Milwaukee was eighteen months behind schedule.
Construction costs had exploded.
A lender had refused further advances.
Two contractors filed liens.
Gavin personally guaranteed part of the debt.
Marjorie had also invested heavily.
Nico looked at the numbers.
“So they’re broke.”
“Not broke,” Daniel said.
“Exposed.”
Important distinction.
If the project succeeded, Gavin could still make substantial money.
If it failed now, he and Marjorie could lose most of what they had invested and face personal-guarantee claims.
Sienna looked at Rebecca.
“The refinance saves them.”
“Maybe.”
“With my property.”
“With Southline collateral.”
“That is my property.”
“Yes.”
The emotional difference did not matter legally.
It mattered to Sienna.
Then Daniel found a second document.
A board consent for Cole Meridian.
Dated three months earlier.
The refinancing strategy had been discussed long before Sienna went into labor.
Marjorie attended.
The minutes included one sentence:
Funding source dependent on historical family authorization remaining in force.
Rebecca looked at the power of attorney.
“Historical authorization.”
First clue.
Gavin and Marjorie had been planning around Sienna’s seven-year-old document for months.
Sienna looked toward Julian sleeping in the hospital bassinet.
“My labor wasn’t the reason.”
“No,” Rebecca said.
“It was the window.”
That made Gavin’s words in the garage even uglier.
Have the baby without me.
May you like
He did not abandon her in anger.
He was trying to keep her occupied long enough to close a transaction.
