Chapter 13 - Catherine refused to turn the company into a revenge weapon
The family business implications were serious, but Catherine was careful not to let financial outrage distort legal reality.
Serena was Michael’s wife, and because of that she had legitimate access to certain household resources and some visibility into the hospitality business. She was not, however, an owner or officer with free authority to direct funds wherever she pleased. The company’s outside counsel moved quickly to separate what was potentially criminal misappropriation from what was merely improper but civilly resolvable spending.
No magical trust clause stripped Serena of everything overnight.
No secret document restored order in a single scene.
The company froze suspect accounts, notified insurers, and began an internal governance review. If losses could be documented, they could be pursued through divorce proceedings, civil recovery, or criminal restitution depending on the final legal findings.
Michael filed for divorce before any indictment was returned.
He cited adultery and financial misconduct where appropriate under state law, but his attorney kept the pleadings factual. Catherine insisted on that. She wanted truth, not melodrama.
As for the poisoning investigation, prosecutors moved cautiously. Attempted murder would require proof beyond emotional threats and suspicious circumstances. Reckless endangerment, unlawful administration of a controlled substance, evidence tampering, and fraud-related counts were easier to support if the evidence held. Catherine accepted that. She wanted a real case, not an inflated one that collapsed.
The hardest moral line for her involved her own slap.
Alan suggested, gently, that because Serena had threatened her, the incident might be framed more forgivingly.
Catherine shook her head. “No. She threatened me, yes. But when I hit her, the immediate danger had paused. I was furious.”
That admission never destroyed her credibility. If anything, it strengthened it.
She was willing to tell the whole story, not just the version most flattering to herself.
Families like the Reeds had survived for generations by selectively managing truth.
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Catherine was done with that.
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