Chapter 9 - The Bloodline ClauseThe tunnel opened beneath an abandoned warehouse.
Cassidy emerged into the rain.
Lily followed.
Daniel and Arthur came moments later.
They had lost the attackers.
For now.
Cassidy leaned against the wall.
“Start talking.”
Lily looked at her.
“You're still asking the wrong question.”
“What question?”
“Why do they want the company?”
Cassidy frowned.
Lily smiled without humor.
“Because they think the company is yours.”
Cassidy looked at Arthur.
“Explain.”
Arthur took out the trust document.
“The controlling ownership rights are tied to an inheritance structure.”
Lily shook her head.
“Not just ownership.”
She pointed at a sentence.
“Read the original language.”
Arthur read aloud.
“Control shall remain with the Ellison bloodline…”
He stopped.
“What?”
Lily continued.
“Until the bloodline seal is presented.”
Cassidy looked at the pendant.
“That.”
“Yes.”
Arthur's face changed.
“The seal authenticates the succession.”
Lily nodded.
“Victor knew that.”
Cassidy's voice was quiet.
“And my father?”
“Your father knew too.”
“Then why did he give it to you?”
“Because he didn't trust you to survive.”
Cassidy flinched.
Lily saw it.
“I'm not blaming you.”
Cassidy stared at the pendant.
“What happened between our families?”
Lily looked away.
“Money.”
Then she laughed.
“The oldest poison.”
She explained.
Twenty-five years earlier, Nathaniel Ellison discovered that Morrison Global had been secretly siphoning intellectual property from Ellison Capital's technology division.
Victor admitted it.
Instead of fighting publicly, the two men negotiated.
The Ellisons would invest.
The Morrisons would develop.
But ownership would eventually shift back to the Ellisons if Morrison Global violated specific protections.
The hidden agreement created Cassidy as primary beneficiary.
Lily was secondary.
But after Lily disappeared, Victor altered the internal records.
He made it appear that Cassidy was the only surviving heir.
Then came the marriage.
Then the pregnancy.
Then Brendan's plan.
Cassidy stared at Lily.
“Why marry me?”
“Because Brendan wanted access to the seal.”
Cassidy's fingers tightened.
“But he never asked for it.”
“He didn't need to.”
Lily looked at her.
“He wanted you to trust him enough to reveal where it was.”
Cassidy's stomach turned.
She remembered Brendan asking strange questions.
Where she kept old jewelry.
What she inherited from her mother.
Whether her father left private documents.
She had thought he was being curious.
He had been hunting.
Lily continued.
“And Jessica?”
“She was planted.”
Cassidy closed her eyes.
Every moment suddenly rearranged itself.
The affair.
The arguments.
Diane's cruelty.
The humiliation.
Everything had been designed to make Cassidy feel isolated.
Weak.
Desperate.
Then Jessica whispered the answer.
“Divorce her.”
“Why?”
“Because the trust has a contingency.”
Cassidy opened her eyes.
“What contingency?”
“If Cassidy Ellison dies before giving birth, temporary control passes to the Morrison family.”
Arthur looked horrified.
“That's not possible.”
“It was Victor's contingency.”
Cassidy stared at Lily.
“Then why help me?”
Lily touched her pendant.
“Because our father changed it.”
She pulled out another document.
Nathaniel had secretly revised the trust.
The amendment was hidden until Cassidy's first child was born.
Primary control would pass to the daughter.
Not Brendan.
Not the Morrisons.
The daughter.
Cassidy's breath caught.
“They know?”
“They found out.”
“That’s why they want my baby.”
Lily nodded.
Then Daniel's phone rang.
He answered.
His expression changed.
“Ma'am.”
“What?”
“Morrison Global's board has called an emergency meeting.”
Cassidy's jaw tightened.
“Who requested it?”
Daniel looked at her.
“Brendan Morrison.”
Arthur swore.
Lily's eyes narrowed.
“And he isn't alone.”
“Who?”
Daniel lowered the phone.
“Adrian Vale.”
Cassidy stared.
The dead man was coming for the board.
Cassidy looked at Lily.
“Then we go.”
Lily shook her head.
“You can't.”
“Why?”
“Because Adrian doesn't want a board meeting.”
She paused.
“He wants the bloodline seal.”
Cassidy touched her stomach.
“And if he gets it?”
May you like
Lily's answer was almost a whisper.
“He can legally claim Morrison Global before your daughter is born.”
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