Chapter 11 - THE FRIEND WHO KNEW TOO MUCH
Selena confronted Blythe alone.
No lawyers.
No board.
Not yet.
She placed printed emails on the desk.
Blythe read the first one and closed her eyes.
“You found them.”
“Yes.”
The messages were not romantic.
Not financial.
But they were secret.
Corbin had repeatedly asked Blythe who actually controlled Vellum Crown.
Blythe evaded him.
Sometimes lied.
Sometimes redirected.
Why?
“Your father asked me to.”
Selena’s anger sharpened.
“That does not explain everything.”
“No.”
One email went further.
CORBIN:
If Selena ever got real authority here, she’d kill every aggressive deal.
BLYTHE:
Then perhaps you should stop building plans that require her ignorance.
That sounded almost protective.
Another:
CORBIN:
Is Thomas planning to leave control to charity?
BLYTHE:
Plan your career as though inheritance does not exist.
Again, advice.
But why engage at all?
Blythe finally explained.
Thomas asked her to monitor whether Corbin was trying to influence Vellum Crown through Selena.
“He was worried about him.”
“Then why not tell me?”
“Because Thomas thought you would defend Corbin.”
Selena went still.
Would she have?
Three years earlier?
Probably.
That hurt.
Blythe continued.
“Your father was wrong to keep you out.”
“Yes.”
“So was I.”
“Yes.”
No excuses.
That mattered.
Then Blythe revealed her own failure.
She knew Aster Row existed eight months before the audit.
She did not know the full rights scheme.
But she knew Corbin had an undisclosed company.
“Why didn’t you report it?”
“I told Thomas.”
“And?”
“He said he would handle Corbin privately.”
Selena stood.
“So everyone protected me by hiding facts from me.”
Blythe nodded.
“Yes.”
That pattern enraged Selena more than Corbin now.
Her father loved her.
Blythe cared about her.
Malcolm protected her.
Yet all of them had participated in deciding what truth she could handle.
“I need your resignation from the investigation committee.”
Blythe looked hurt.
“I understand.”
“Not from Vellum Crown.”
She looked up.
“You made a serious mistake.”
“Yes.”
“You also just admitted it before I proved every piece.”
Blythe swallowed.
“So?”
“So accountability does not always mean exile.”
That was the company Selena wanted to run.
Not one where friendship erased consequences.
Not one where one mistake erased a lifetime of value.
Blythe stepped off the special committee.
An independent director replaced her.
Then the full forensic review concluded.
Unsupported or conflicted transactions:
$10.8 million.
Recoverable or offset through rights reversals:
approximately $7.1 million.
Corbin’s conduct involved serious nondisclosure and breach of company policy.
But investigators found insufficient evidence that he personally stole the entire amount.
Some services were real.
Some expenses were legitimate.
Some were reckless.
Some were hidden.
Complex.
Exactly why Selena had refused revenge.
The board terminated Corbin’s producer agreement for cause.
He retained earned film credits where contractually appropriate.
Future participation tied to undisclosed side arrangements was canceled where legally supportable.
Aster Row entered restructuring.
Corbin’s glamorous future shrank overnight.
Then The Glass Monarch received eight major award nominations.
Including Best Picture.
And one nomination recognized Corbin personally as producer.
The entertainment press went wild.
Would Vellum Crown allow him to attend?
Would Selena block him?
Would the disgraced husband appear beside the owner wife he abandoned?
The board asked Selena.
She answered:
“He earned the nomination for work completed before termination.”
“So?”
“He attends if the academy invites him.”
Blythe smiled.
“You really refuse to be dramatic.”
Selena looked at her.
May you like
“My divorce was served between two graves.”
“I’ve had enough drama.”
