Chapter 6 - The Foundation
Northbridge Education Foundation was not Vivian Blake’s private organization.
That surprised Grace.
It was an independent nonprofit with a nine-member board.
Vivian chaired it, but she did not own the money.
That distinction mattered.
Police financial investigators and an outside forensic accountant began reviewing foundation records after the board voluntarily agreed to an audit.
Vivian publicly welcomed it.
Privately, according to Keller, she threatened to resign and withdraw future Blake family donations.
“How much are we talking about?” Grace asked.
“Historically? More than two million dollars over ten years.”
Grace stared.
“Then why steal fundraiser money?”
Keller shook his head.
“We do not know that she did.”
Grace smiled without humor.
“Right. Responsible language.”
The Hollis Fellowship committee also contacted Grace.
Her nomination remained valid.
But the growing public attention complicated things.
An administrator explained that the fellowship expected nominees to maintain academic standing and demonstrate integrity.
Grace almost laughed.
She was being threatened, framed, and shoved into lockers, and somehow she still needed to worry about looking respectable enough for a scholarship.
Dana heard the call.
“If they punish you for being targeted, they don’t deserve you.”
“Easy to say when it’s two hundred thousand dollars.”
Dana’s face softened.
“No. It isn’t.”
They both knew what that money could change.
College without crushing debt.
A dorm.
Books.
A future where Grace did not calculate every purchase.
Fear returned.
The anonymous account posted again.
A photograph of Grace stocking shelves at Delaney’s.
Caption:
Future Hollis Scholar?
Grace stared.
The insult was supposed to be obvious.
Poor girl.
Grocery store.
How embarrassing.
Instead comments turned against the poster.
She has a job. So what?
Imagine thinking work is shameful.
Whoever runs this account is obsessed.
Grace almost laughed.
The strategy was failing.
Then the account posted something crueler.
A copy of Dana’s eviction warning.
Grace went cold.
Only three people had seen that document.
Dana.
Grace.
Their landlord.
Unless someone had accessed the financial documents in Grace’s counseling file.
The Hollis need packet contained a copy.
Detective Ortiz obtained a warrant for the prepaid phone’s activity data.
The device had connected to Wi-Fi Tuesday night at a residence registered to Vivian Blake.
That did not prove who used it.
Six people lived or worked there.
But it narrowed the world.
When the news became known to investigators, Sierra requested another interview.
This time without Vivian in the room.
Because Sierra was a minor, her attorney and another authorized adult had to be present.
She chose her father, Andrew Blake.
Grace had never met him.
Andrew and Vivian had been separated for nearly a year but continued appearing together publicly.
He lived in Boston and traveled frequently.
He flew home the next morning.
Sierra’s statement remained confidential.
But by afternoon police searched the Blake residence.
Vivian’s attorney protested.
The search continued.
Grace learned only fragments.
A prepaid phone was found.
So was the white-and-navy jacket.
Not in Sierra’s closet.
In a locked cabinet inside Vivian’s home office.
Grace sat across from Ortiz.
“Sierra said it reappeared in her car.”
“She lied.”
“So she did steal the envelope.”
“That does not automatically follow.”
Grace sighed.
“I know.”
Ortiz almost smiled.
“You’re learning.”
“What did she admit?”
“I can’t disclose the full interview.”
“Can you tell me whether she took my ID?”
Ortiz hesitated.
“Sierra acknowledged removing your student ID from your backpack.”
Grace’s anger surged.
“Why?”
“She says she originally intended to use it for something she described as a prank.”
“What prank?”
“She refused to explain further.”
“And then she planted it?”
Ortiz looked carefully at Grace.
“She acknowledged leaving it near Principal Keller’s office.”
Grace felt as though the floor shifted.
There it was.
Not suspicion.
Not maybe.
Sierra had framed her.
“She wanted them to think I stole the money.”
“Yes.”
“Because I’m poor.”
“Sierra described it differently.”
“How?”
“She believed people would find the accusation plausible.”
Grace laughed once.
A bitter sound.
“That means because I’m poor.”
Ortiz did not disagree.
“Did Vivian tell her to do that?”
“Sierra says no.”
Grace froze.
“So the mother didn’t plan it.”
“According to Sierra, planting your ID was her idea.”
That hurt in a different way.
Sierra had been afraid of Vivian.
But the cruelty toward Grace belonged to Sierra.
Both things could be true.
“Did Vivian tell her to take the envelope?”
Ortiz did not answer directly.
“Sierra is still deciding how much she is prepared to say.”
Grace understood.
Fear had loosened Sierra’s silence.
It had not broken it.
Then Ortiz showed Grace a photograph recovered during the Blake house search.
A blue ledger.
The missing fundraiser book.
It lay open on Vivian Blake’s desk.
The photograph had been taken by Sierra herself on Tuesday night.
On the page was a handwritten line:
Arden Educational Consulting — $7,600 adjustment — V. Blake authorization.
The exact amount missing before the office theft.
Grace stared at it.
The envelope had not been stolen to hide fourteen thousand dollars.
It had been stolen to hide seven thousand six hundred.
May you like
And that was only the first number investigators could see.
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