I was relieved that she said it plainly.

“Then we do this properly,” I answered.

“I don’t want an illegal shortcut.

I want the truth.”

Russell joined us to review the trust documents.

There were pages I had signed years earlier and provisions I had never fully understood.

My father had structured the assets so I could request distributions and exercise certain voting rights, while independent trustees oversaw the lending portfolio.

Russell was my adviser, not a private banker with authority to bypass everyone else.