Chapter 71: A Different Photograph
Leah found the first photograph of the damaged Lamborghini while organizing the family computer.
She asked whether we should delete the copy stored with our vacation pictures.
I looked at the image and remembered how helpless I had felt watching the paint drip.
The photograph was relevant to the case and remained preserved with the legal records.
We did not need it in the folder we opened to remember family holidays.
I moved it into the secure archive and removed the duplicate from the family album.
Then Leah showed me photographs from Sophie’s science exhibition, Evelyn’s birthday, and our drive along the river.
Those pictures were also part of the same year.
They reminded me that the vandalism had not filled every day, even when it seemed to occupy every thought.
We chose several to print and place in a new album.
Sophie decorated the cover with a yellow truck and a small river.
She wrote our family name beneath the drawing.
I placed the album on the living-room shelf instead of hiding it in a cabinet.
The next time we opened it, we would see what we had continued to build.
Chapter 72: The Question From the Bank
The bank that maintained Northline’s credit line scheduled an annual review after the litigation costs appeared in our financial statements.
Our loan officer asked how the case had affected revenue and whether we expected further disruptions.
I brought Elaine and Miriam to the meeting so that financial estimates and legal uncertainties would remain clearly separated.
We presented updated projections based on actual appointments rather than the optimistic targets Marcus once preferred.
The loan officer asked why our forecasts were more conservative than the previous year’s.
I explained that we had lost some customers and invested in security systems that would not immediately produce revenue.
I also explained how the revised procedures were helping us retain the customers who had returned.
She studied the numbers and asked several detailed questions.
When the meeting ended, the bank agreed to maintain our existing credit line subject to normal conditions.
The decision did not feel like a dramatic rescue.
It meant the company could plan equipment purchases and payroll without pretending our difficulties had vanished.
I thanked Elaine for making every figure traceable to a real record.
She said accurate numbers were easier to defend than impressive guesses.
I wished Marcus had understood that before he began building a future out of other people’s information.
