That sounded like the truth, though I had only heard it secondhand.
“Did he mention me?”
“No.”
“Good.”
“He mentioned that the charity auction had been handled as an event expense, but that he had
personally chosen to give the necklace to Olivia.”
I looked at the lake through the kitchen window.
“Did he say why?”
“He said he had no reason that would make the decision acceptable.”
I let the silence stretch.
For months, I had wanted an explanation.
Now I wondered whether an explanation would only become another way of asking me to soften what he had done.
The committee’s findings reached the company’s staff the following week.
The news spread through business circles, though it did not become the public spectacle the board had
feared.
Olivia’s role was formally ended after the review found that she had misused the fund and failed to disclose the personal nature of several expenses.
