Daniel learned about the first meeting three months before their wedding.
Grant knew about Eleanor’s family trust.
He knew its voting shares could eventually give Lily substantial control over Hayes Engineering.
More importantly, he knew Richard intended to place those shares beyond Daniel’s personal control.
That mattered because Daniel was easier to influence than Richard.
Natalie knew it.
Grant knew it.
Richard apparently knew it too.
That explained the trust amendment.
Daniel confronted his father.
Not angrily at first.
Then very angrily.
“You changed everything without telling me.”
Richard sat behind the desk in his study.
The same desk Natalie had searched.
“I intended to tell you after my birthday.”
“You didn’t trust me.”
Richard looked at him.
“No.”
The answer landed hard.
Daniel stood.
“Excuse me?”
“I trusted you as my son.”
“That is not what I asked.”
“No.”
Richard’s voice remained calm.
“I did not trust you to protect Lily’s financial interests from your wife.”
Daniel stared.
“You suspected Natalie?”
“I suspected you.”
Daniel stopped.
Richard continued.
“You stopped reviewing trust statements.”
“I have a company to run.”
“You signed papers without reading them.”
“My lawyers—”
“You let Natalie sit in meetings she had no reason to attend.”
“She’s my wife.”
“Exactly.”
Daniel looked away.
Richard leaned back.
“Your mother loved you very much.”
“What does Mom have to do with this?”
“She worried about your greatest weakness.”
Daniel almost laughed.
“What?”
“You confuse trust with refusing to verify.”
“That isn’t a weakness.”
“It is when money is involved.”
Daniel shook his head.
“You’re unbelievable.”
Richard’s expression sharpened.
“No.”
He pointed toward the living room where Lily had cried three days earlier.
“That was unbelievable.”
Daniel went quiet.
Richard softened.
“I tried to warn you.”
“When?”
“Last year.”
“You said Natalie asked too many questions.”
“Yes.”
“That’s not a warning.”
“I said, ‘Do not give her access to Lily’s trust.’”
Daniel remembered.
He had laughed.
“Dad, she’s not a Bond villain.”
Richard remembered too.
“I wish I had been wrong.”
Daniel sat.
His anger disappeared.
“What did you see?”
“Transfers.”
His head lifted.
“What?”
“Nothing illegal.”
Richard opened a drawer.
“Natalie convinced you to move several personal accounts under Grant Mercer’s management.”
“So?”
“Fees increased.”
Daniel shrugged.
“They performed.”
“Not enough to justify the fees.”
“You investigated?”
“I read.”
Richard handed him a report.
Grant had steered Daniel into private funds paying unusually high commissions.
Several investments had hidden connections to Grant’s business associates.
Not necessarily illegal.
Certainly self-serving.
Richard saw a pattern.
Natalie repeatedly pushed Daniel toward financial decisions benefiting Grant.
Then Grant began asking about family trusts.
Richard closed access.
Two months later, Natalie started telling Daniel that Richard was becoming paranoid.
Daniel remembered.
He had agreed.
“What did she want?”
Richard replied, “Control.”
“Of Hayes Engineering?”
“Eventually.”
Daniel laughed bitterly.