Chapter 12 - The Mother Who Came BackMy mother had been dead for eight years.
I stared at Sierra.
“No.”
“She isn't.”
I couldn't move.
Margaret looked equally stunned.
“That's impossible.”
Sierra shook her head.
“Her death certificate is fake.”
Daniel asked, “How do you know?”
“My father arranged the disappearance.”
I laughed once.
It sounded broken.
“My mother died in a car accident.”
“No.”
Sierra placed a photograph on the table.
My mother.
Alive.
Older.
Standing outside a bank.
The date was six months ago.
I felt something crack inside me.
Why had nobody told me?
Why would my own mother disappear?
Sierra answered the question.
“She knew what your grandmother had discovered.”
“What did Grandma discover?”
“That Victor had been using your family for years.”
I stared at the photograph.
“Where is she?”
Sierra hesitated.
“Safe.”
“Where?”
“I don't know.”
“Then find her.”
She looked at Daniel.
He nodded.
“I know someone who does.”
Hours later, we found my mother in a small coastal town.
She opened the door.
Saw me.
And collapsed.
I didn't speak.
Neither did she.
For eight years I had buried her.
Now she was standing in front of me.
Alive.
I wanted to scream.
I wanted to hug her.
Instead I whispered:
“Why?”
She cried.
“Because I was afraid.”
“Of Victor?”
“Yes.”
“Brett?”
“Yes.”
“Grandma?”
She shook her head.
“No.”
“Then who?”
My mother looked at me.
“Your father.”
My breath caught.
My father had died when I was six.
Or so I had been told.
But she revealed another secret.
He hadn't died when I was six.
He had disappeared.
His death had been staged.
He had discovered Victor's network.
He had tried to expose it.
Victor destroyed his identity and forced him into hiding.
My grandmother knew.
My mother knew.
And they had spent decades keeping me out of it.
“Then why Brett?”
My mother shook her head.
“We didn't know Brett was working with Victor until it was too late.”
“Grandma did.”
“Yes.”
“And she let me marry him.”
“Because she believed he could still choose you over them.”
I closed my eyes.
“He didn't.”
“No.”
My mother pulled out a folder.
“The real succession document is here.”
She placed it in my hands.
The witness list included Sierra.
Daniel.
And my mother.
The real document clearly named Micah as beneficiary.
The forged document was worthless.
The board meeting began in forty minutes.
We rushed back to the city.
The boardroom was packed.
Brett stood at the head of the table.
He looked confident.
Victor sat beside him.
Richard was absent.
Several directors avoided my eyes.
Brett spoke first.
“Claire has caused enormous damage to this company.”
I sat down.
“She didn't cause anything.”
Margaret stood.
“We have authenticated evidence.”
Brett smiled.
“Do you?”
“Yes.”
“Then present it.”
We did.
The recordings.
The transfers.
The server logs.
Richard's confession.
The board stared in silence.
Victor leaned toward Brett.
“Do something.”
Brett didn't move.
Then he smiled.
“You're all making the same mistake.”
He opened a folder.
Inside was a document.
“The amendment.”
Margaret immediately objected.
“It's forged.”
Brett laughed.
“Then prove it.”
Sierra stood.
“I can.”
Every head turned.
She placed the original document on the table.
“I witnessed Eleanor Holloway sign this.”
Brett's face changed.
My mother stepped forward.
“And I witnessed it too.”
The room erupted.
Brett looked at me.
Then Victor.
Then Sierra.
Finally, he looked at Micah.
Something terrifying passed across his face.
Not anger.
Calculation.
He reached for his phone.
“What are you doing?” I asked.
He smiled.
“Ending this.”
Then every screen in the boardroom went black.
May you like
The doors locked automatically.
And smoke began pouring from the ventilation system.
