I walked toward the building entrance, where security cameras covered the corridor.
Preston followed me for a few steps and said I would destroy my own company if I continued.
I stopped near the attendant.
I said he was free to make any lawful statement through his attorney.
Then I left.
I wrote down the time and everything I could remember before speaking to Daniel.
We requested preservation of the garage footage.
I did not feel brave.
My hands were shaking by the time I reached my office.
Grace saw my face and asked whether I wanted water.
I told her what had happened.
She said we needed better boundaries around every interaction.
I agreed.
The affair had turned my home into a stage where Preston felt entitled to humiliate me.
The business dispute gave him new places to repeat the performance.
I could not control his behavior.
I could control whether I offered him an audience.
Chapter 52: The Morning Rachel Said No
A reporter asked Rachel to sit for an interview about her marriage.
The reporter promised to focus on financial accountability but kept asking whether Preston had ever been faithful.
Rachel declined.
She said the public had a legitimate interest in the missing payments and scholarship funds, not in the humiliating details of her private life.
The reporter pressed harder.
Rachel ended the call.
She told me later that she had once been afraid to say no because she thought cooperation was the price of being believed.
Now she wanted to choose what mattered.
I admired her decision.
When a different reporter contacted me, I offered a written statement about the verified contractor losses and declined questions about Allison.
The resulting article was shorter than the first reporter wanted.
It was also more accurate.
Luis called to say his crew appreciated seeing their concerns described without sensational language.
I kept a copy of the article for the case file.
I did not post it on the wall.
The workers were still waiting for practical results, and those mattered more than flattering coverage.
Chapter 53: The Missing Checks
An independent report finally explained the payment reversals in language I could understand.
A legitimate payment file would identify the contractor, the amount owed, and the bank destination approved for that contractor.
In our case, several recipient records had been altered after verification.
The visible payee names remained accurate, so our office believed the transfers were going to familiar vendors.
Certain settlement acknowledgments had been generated from a compromised administrative interface.
