Chapter 6 - DELPHINE SAYS IT WAS JUST TALK Delphine's attorney requested a voluntary interview.
She admitted the payments.
She admitted the texts.
But she denied that Mother had specifically ordered her to hit Willa.
Her explanation was simple.
Mother wanted her to provoke me.
“Push until he shows himself” meant verbal pressure.
Arguments.
Family confrontations.
Documentation.
Nothing more.
Then investigators asked about the $1.15 million transition contract.
Delphine admitted it mattered.
A lot.
That changed the picture.
She wasn't only following Mother.
She wanted the sale.
She wanted a role.
She wanted money.
And, beneath all of it, she wanted approval.
That was something I didn't expect.
Then Delphine was asked:
“Did Everett's grief influence the plan?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“He was easier to provoke when we mentioned Lila.”
My wife's name.
The person whose absence had already torn our family apart.
They had mapped my grief like a pressure point.
Then came the slap.
Delphine's original defense was that Willa had kicked her.
Video disproved it.
Then she claimed the $4,000 payment was unrelated.
But the transfer happened after the police left.
She had been paid for “event assistance.”
No one believed the label.
My mother sent me a letter.
She accused me of turning a private family matter into corporate warfare.
Then she wrote:
You have always become irrational when Willa is criticized.
I stared at that sentence.
She wasn't denying it.
She was explaining the success of the plan.
Then came another line:
Crestline is the right transaction. Your emotions have endangered thousands of employees.
That one hurt.
Because it wasn't entirely false.
What if the deal was actually good?
What if I had allowed anger over my mother's control to make me oppose a transaction that benefited employees and shareholders?
I told Miles:
“I want an independent valuation.”
He agreed.
“Employee protections too.”
“Already underway.”
“And I should not vote while the conduct issue is unresolved.”
He studied me.
“You're volunteering recusal?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because if I insist on voting while accusing my mother of manipulating the process, nobody will trust the outcome.”
It was the hardest decision I had made.
I was giving up leverage.
May you like
Not because Mother had won.
Because I needed to stop making everything about winning.
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