Chapter 7 - WHAT THEY REALLY NEEDED INSIDE
The attempted entry initially looked like arrogance.
It was more than that.
My parents desperately needed access to the farmhouse before the Hope Fund’s donors arrived.
Not to decorate.
To remove records.
Two weeks earlier, after I started questioning finances, I copied several boxes of Hope Fund documents stored in Dad’s barn office.
I returned the originals.
What I did not know was that Thomas believed I had hidden some of them in the farmhouse.
Specifically, he wanted the donor pledge files and a small desktop computer previously used by the fund’s volunteer treasurer.
The computer was no longer there.
The treasurer, Carol Ames, had removed it herself after discovering irregularities.
She was one of the “guests” arriving that morning.
Not for the fundraiser.
To confront Margaret.
Three board members had already begun comparing records.
They discovered contributions described publicly as restricted assistance for families had been moved into a general operating account.
From there, payments went to businesses connected to Thomas.
The annual farmhouse event had another purpose.
Mom intended to ask donors to approve a restructuring of the Hope Fund into a private family foundation.
Buried inside the proposed paperwork was language ratifying previous “administrative and development expenditures.”
If enough board members signed, Margaret hoped the old spending would appear formally approved after the fact.
She needed a friendly room.
Wine.
A beautiful farmhouse.
Lily’s story.
Donors who did not know there was a dispute.
And me upstairs or silent.
When I canceled the gathering, their plan collapsed.
That was why they kept coming.
May you like
It was not only entitlement to property.
They needed the stage.
