Chapter 5 - NORTHSTAR
Northstar Custodial Management sounded legitimate.
It was.
That made the problem harder.
The company administered escrow and special-purpose investment accounts.
The $1.2 million had not simply gone to Derek.
It moved into two accounts associated with an acquisition project.
Callahan Ridge Consulting had been exploring the purchase of a smaller cybersecurity firm called VectorHalo.
That acquisition was real.
Confidential.
Potentially valuable.
Why was our jointly owned Holdings LLC funding it?
Derek’s position was that Holdings made a strategic bridge investment.
Again, the operating agreement required my consent above $100,000.
Again, documents carried my signature.
Again, I had not signed them.
Now we had five disputed consents.
Nathan mapped each file.
Three originated from Sloane’s system.
Two from Derek’s home-office computer.
That did not prove who placed each signature.
But it showed the pattern was broader than Apex.
Derek had treated my signature as reusable authorization.
Rachel filed amended claims concerning breach of the Holdings operating agreement and disputed consent documents.
The court ordered preservation of devices and records.
No dramatic seizure.
A structured discovery process.
Digital forensic examiners created images of relevant devices under agreed protocols and court orders where necessary.
Derek fought scope.
He was entitled to.
Privacy and business confidentiality mattered.
The judge limited searches to defined terms, dates, and transactions.
That made evidence stronger.
The VectorHalo deal exposed another problem.
Derek had used marital investment funds to strengthen his operating company without properly documenting what Holdings received in return.
If the acquisition succeeded, Callahan Ridge Consulting shareholders—including Derek—might benefit.
But Holdings’ ownership interest was unclear.
Was it a loan?
Equity?
Temporary bridge capital?
Documents contradicted each other.
Nathan said:
“This is what happens when someone treats entities like personal pockets.”
That sentence described Derek’s financial life.
He was sophisticated enough to build structures.
Arrogant enough to ignore them when inconvenient.
The board became increasingly concerned.
Not because of our divorce.
Because corporate governance was deteriorating.
Outside counsel uncovered undisclosed related-party transactions.
Inaccurate board certifications.
Financial decisions concentrated through Derek.
No evidence yet showed client funds were stolen or accounting statements broadly falsified.
That mattered.
This was serious governance misconduct.
Not automatically a massive corporate fraud.
Derek’s board removed him as CEO pending final review.
He retained significant ownership.
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But operational control was gone.
The man who told me I was nothing without him had just discovered his company could operate without him.
