Chapter 3 - CAROLINE HAD BEEN SPENDING MY DIVIDENDS
The numbers were worse than the betrayal.
Over eleven years, Sullivan Floral had distributed nearly $4.2 million in owner dividends.
Maeve should have received a substantial share.
She had received nothing.
Instead, those distributions flowed through the “Sullivan Family Continuity Trust.”
Trustee:
Caroline Sullivan.
Maeve stared at her sister.
“How much?”
Caroline’s face hardened.
“This is disgusting.”
“What is?”
“Discussing money in public.”
Maeve almost laughed.
“You mocked my rented dress in public.”
“That’s different.”
“How?”
“You always do this. You turn everything into some moral courtroom.”
Richard stepped between them.
“Enough.”
Maeve looked at him.
“No.”
The word felt unfamiliar.
Good.
“No more enough.”
Her father’s mouth opened.
She continued.
“I worked ten-hour days while Caroline collected dividends from shares that belonged to me?”
Caroline snapped:
“You had a salary.”
Maeve stared.
“A salary?”
“Yes.”
“For doing my job.”
“You lived comfortably.”
“I lived in a one-bedroom apartment twenty minutes from the warehouse.”
“You chose that.”
“Because Dad told me the company couldn’t afford ownership distributions.”
Richard finally said:
“We reinvested most of the money.”
Leo’s attorney, who had quietly entered the ballroom, spoke:
“Records show otherwise.”
Everyone turned.
She introduced herself as Sofia Rossi—not Leo’s wife, as Caroline initially assumed, but his cousin and corporate counsel.
She opened a tablet.
Payments from the trust had funded:
Caroline’s condo.
Caroline’s Mercedes.
Luxury travel.
A failed skincare company.
And $680,000 in transfers to Richard.
Maeve felt strangely calm.
Not because it hurt less.
Because the truth had become too large for emotion to handle all at once.
“You used Mom’s shares to fund her.”
Richard said:
“We supported the family.”
“No.”
Maeve looked at Caroline.
“You supported the child you liked.”
Caroline’s eyes flashed.
“Nobody made you stay at that warehouse.”
Maeve breathed in.
“You’re right.”
That surprised her.
Caroline blinked.
“You’re absolutely right.”
Maeve turned toward Leo.
“Can the sale close without me?”
“No.”
Richard stepped forward.
“Maeve, think carefully.”
“I am.”
“You block this deal, the company may fail.”
Leo said:
“That is false.”
Richard glared.
Maeve looked at Leo.
“Why?”
“Because Sullivan Floral is profitable.”
“How profitable?”
“Last year? $3.6 million EBITDA.”
Maeve almost laughed.
Dad had told employees profit was under $600,000.
Where was the difference?
Sofia answered.
Related-party fees.
Consulting charges.
Management expenses.
Money moved out before appearing as profit.
“To who?”
Richard said:
“This conversation is over.”
Maeve looked toward the locked expression on his face.
Then at Caroline.
Then back to Leo.
“Who received the fees?”
Leo did not answer immediately.
That hesitation frightened her.
“Tell me.”
“The largest recipient is Bellweather Logistics.”
Maeve knew that company.
They handled overflow refrigerated transportation.
Expensive.
Unreliable.
She had begged her father to replace them.
“Who owns Bellweather?”
Sofia turned the screen.
Registered beneficial owner:
Caroline Sullivan.
Maeve stared.
Her sister had been billing their family company through a vendor she secretly owned.
Then Leo added:
“Bellweather has another silent partner.”
“Who?”
His expression changed.
May you like
“My uncle.”
And suddenly the Sullivan fraud was tied directly to the Rossi family.
