Chapter 22 - THE NEW RULES
I changed everything at Ravenwood.
The security system was rebuilt.
Financial access required independent approval.
No relative could control employee records.
No private investigation could be conducted without legal oversight.
And every staff member received one promise.
If someone threatened them, they could come directly to me.
Clara was the first to use it.
A supplier had attempted to pressure her over an old contract.
She came into my office.
“I need help.”
I looked up.
“Good.”
She smiled.
“Good?”
“You asked instead of apologizing.”
She laughed.
“I've been practicing.”
Emma ran into the room carrying her rabbit.
“Mommy doesn't say sorry anymore.”
Clara looked at her daughter.
“Not for things that aren't my fault.”
Emma nodded proudly.
I looked at them both.
That sentence meant more than any policy I'd written.
It was proof that the house had changed.
Ravenwood had once been built around secrets.
Now it was built around trust.
One afternoon, I walked through the study.
The safe remained behind the painting.
But the code was gone.
I had replaced it with a biometric lock.
No more hidden numbers.
No more private access.
No more secrets controlled by one person.
I stood beneath the portrait and smiled.
May you like
My father had protected the house with secrecy.
I would protect mine with transparency.
