Chapter 7 - The Truth Behind the Uniform
After Evelyn’s toast, applause filled the ballroom.
Maren did not look at her father.
She looked at the officers standing near the entrance.
Some had served with her during relief missions. Others had trained under her command. Evelyn had invited them without explaining why their presence might be necessary.
Captain Naomi Brooks stood at the end of the line.
She smiled when Maren noticed her.
Alden stared at the uniforms as though they were evidence from a crime scene.
“You’re an admiral?” he asked.
Maren lowered her glass.
“Yes.”
“For how long?”
“Long enough that you could have known if you had ever looked.”
“I heard nothing.”
“You heard what you wanted to hear.”
Several guests turned away from Alden.
These were people who had listened for years as he described Maren as irresponsible, unstable and ashamed.
Now they understood that every story had been manufactured.
Alden attempted to regain control.
“A rank does not erase what she did to this family.”
“No,” Lucas said. “But these might.”
He carried the cream-colored envelope toward them.
The letters landed on the banquet table.
Maren recognized her handwriting immediately.
For a moment, the ballroom disappeared.
She saw herself at twenty-four, sitting on a narrow bed during officer training, telling Thomas she missed him.
She saw herself aboard a ship, writing Lucas a birthday card beneath a flickering lamp.
She saw herself after Thomas’s death, pressing tears from the page so the ink would not smear.
All those years, she had believed her brother rejected her.
Thomas had never seen a single word.
Maren touched the first envelope.
“Where did you find these?”
“In his safe,” Lucas answered.
Alden’s voice became sharp.
“You had no right to enter my private office.”
“It is company property.”
“I am the company.”
“No,” Margaret Chen said as she approached. “You are currently its acting chairman.”
Alden looked at the attorney.
Margaret placed the trust document beside the letters.
“Eleanor Rowe established a voting trust for both of her children. Thomas received thirty-five percent of Rowe Maritime, and Maren received thirty-five percent. The remaining shares were assigned to you.”
“Maren surrendered her interest.”
“She did not.”
Alden pointed toward a transfer document.
“Her signature is there.”
Maren examined it.
The handwriting resembled hers, but the final letter curved incorrectly. Eleanor had taught Maren to sign her name with a straight downward line.
“This isn’t my signature,” she said.
Margaret nodded.
“A forensic examiner reached the same conclusion.”
Guests began whispering.
Alden’s face turned gray.
Lucas stepped closer to him.
“You used Aunt Maren’s shares to control the company.”
“I protected the family.”
“You stole her voice.”
“I kept the business alive.”
“You nearly destroyed it,” Lucas replied. “The board audit found hidden debts, unauthorized loans and three rejected safety reports.”
Alden looked at Maren.
For the first time, there was fear in his eyes.
Not fear of losing her.
Fear of losing control.
“You planned this,” he accused.
Maren looked at the unopened letters.
“I didn’t even know these existed until tonight.”
Alden turned toward Lucas.
“You brought her here to take the company.”
Lucas shook his head.
“I brought her here because she deserved to know her family never forgot her.”
Maren looked at him.
“Your father asked about you until the end,” Lucas said softly. “I found his journal too.”
May you like
Her breath caught.
“He never stopped loving you.”
