Chapter 14 - MY MOTHER HAD BEEN RIGHT ABOUT ONE THING AND WRONG ABOUT ANOTHERI listened to Catherine’s recording often.
Too often.
Eventually my therapist asked:
“What are you looking for?”
I knew.
Instructions.
My mother had been dead nearly my entire life.
The recording felt like a map.
But dead parents should not become dictators either.
Catherine had been right to document.
Right to distrust Robert’s property scheme.
Right to preserve Daniel’s identity.
But she also tried to control the future.
She created restrictions assuming Daniel and I might one day need protection from each other.
She distrusted the Hartwells so completely that her trust treated any Hartwell spouse as presumptively conflicted.
Understandable.
Still rigid.
I decided not to spend my adulthood obeying a war that began before I could speak.
So Daniel and I restructured Northshore.
Not merged.
Not divided in revenge.
Independent board.
Employee representation.
Environmental reserve.
No family member could unilaterally pledge shares.
No spouse obtained control through marriage.
No surname received automatic management rights.
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The company became harder for any family to weaponize.
That was better than choosing which dead parent had been more correct.
