Chapter 10 - My father returned at midnight.He refused medical attention.
He refused police protection.
He refused to explain where he'd been.
He simply walked into the room, looked at me, and said,
“We have twelve hours.”
“Twelve hours for what?”
“To stop your mother.”
I stared.
“You met her.”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
“Underground.”
“What does that mean?”
“She has control of the original Black Vault archive.”
“And?”
“She plans to trigger the succession clause.”
“What succession clause?”
My father sat down.
“When your grandfather created Sterling's private trust, he placed a condition in it.”
“What condition?”
“If any direct heir is declared legally incapable of managing the estate, control transfers to the next blood relative.”
I frowned.
“The next blood relative is me.”
“No.”
He looked at my stomach.
“Your daughter.”
I suddenly understood.
“The baby.”
He nodded.
“The trust was designed to protect unborn heirs.”
“But the baby can't manage anything.”
“Exactly.”
“So the court appoints a guardian.”
“Brenna.”
My heart sank.
“Then Brenna controls my daughter's trust.”
“Yes.”
“And if she controls it…”
“She controls the company.”
I stared at him.
“So my mother wants the company through my daughter.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
My father's expression darkened.
“Because your mother believes Sterling belongs to her.”
“But you said she betrayed you.”
“She did.”
“Then why would she think it belongs to her?”
“Because she believes I stole it from her.”
Silence.
I whispered,
“What really happened twenty-three years ago?”
My father looked away.
Then finally spoke.
“Your mother discovered that her family had been laundering money through Sterling.”
“The Vales.”
“Yes.”
“She wanted to expose them.”
“What stopped her?”
“My father.”
“Your grandfather?”
“Yes.”
I stared.
“He threatened her.”
“My father threatened everyone.”
“What happened?”
“She asked me to help her escape.”
“And you refused?”
“I was afraid.”
My father's voice cracked for the first time.
“I thought she would destroy Sterling.”
“So she disappeared.”
“I helped her disappear.”
I stared.
“You let everyone believe she was dead?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“To protect you.”
I couldn't speak.
Then he continued.
“But years later, she came back.”
“And?”
“She wanted revenge.”
“On you.”
“On Sterling.”
He looked at me.
“And now she wants you.”
I suddenly felt my daughter move.
One small kick.
My hand covered my stomach.
“What happens if she gets the trust?”
“She can destroy Sterling.”
“And me?”
“She can make you disappear.”
I looked at him.
He didn't deny it.
“Where is she?”
“Your mother sent a message.”
“What message?”
He placed a piece of paper on the table.
An address.
A church.
Abandoned for thirty years.
Beneath the address was another sentence.
Bring my granddaughter.
My father tore the paper in half.
“You're not going.”
“I have to.”
“No.”
“She'll never stop.”
“I won't let her near you.”
“She already controls the court.”
My father looked at me.
“She won't control the court for long.”
“What are you planning?”
He smiled.
“The live feed.”
I frowned.
“What about it?”
“The footage from the night Diego attacked you wasn't just sent to me.”
My heart stopped.
“To who else?”
“To every board member of Sterling.”
I stared.
“What?”
“Your grandfather designed the emergency system to automatically distribute evidence in the event of a family security breach.”
“So everyone saw Diego?”
“Yes.”
“And the board?”
“Yes.”
“Then why haven't they acted?”
My father smiled.
“They have.”
He handed me a phone.
The Sterling board had voted.
Eighteen to one.
Diego removed from every corporate position.
Brenna barred from company property.
Holloway suspended pending criminal investigation.
And a new resolution:
Elena Calder appointed interim controlling shareholder.
I stared.
“But the guardianship…”
“Was overturned.”
My father smiled.
“The board challenged it before the court could finalize anything.”
I started crying.
For the first time in days, I felt like I could breathe.
Then my father said,
“One more thing.”
“What?”
The board had also authorized the public release of the live footage.
Every second.
Every word.
Every crime.
My father looked at me.
“Tomorrow morning, the world sees what Diego did.”
I didn't know it yet.
But tomorrow morning, another person would be exposed.
Because hidden inside that footage was a reflection in the glass door.
A face.
May you like
A face nobody had noticed.
A face that would turn the entire case upside down.
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