The audit eventually uncovered seventy-three fraudulent transactions.
Daniel accepted a plea agreement that included four years in prison, repayment of the stolen funds, and a permanent ban from managing charitable money.
Vanessa refused to accept responsibility.
She went to trial, blamed Daniel, the accountants, the board, and eventually me.
The evidence told a different story.
She was convicted and received a six-year sentence.
The scandal cost them their careers, their friends, and every hidden dollar they had treated as their own.
The court ordered the sale of their investment property to repay Northbridge Relief.
But legal consequences could not return what they had taken from Sofia.
During the investigation, I repeatedly asked myself whether I had failed her too.
I had known Vanessa was selfish.
I had known Daniel cared far too much about money and appearances.
Yet I kept covering their mistakes because I believed protecting the family was the same as loving it.
