Chapter 14 - THE NIGHT THE TOWER WENT DARK
Emergency lights flooded the boardroom in red.
The electronic doors locked.
Someone screamed in the corridor.
Helena moved toward the wall panel.
“No signal.”
Adrian remained near the table.
He did not appear surprised.
“You planned this,” I said.
He looked at me through the red light.
“I planned for every possibility.”
Richard stood.
“You are making the same mistake Victor made.”
“No. Victor hesitated.”
Lenora stepped toward her son.
“Adrian, what have you done?”
He ignored her.
The two men outside the glass wall removed tools from their uniforms.
One began opening the security panel.
Rebecca looked at Adrian.
“You said the registry would decide.”
“It will.”
“This was not part of our agreement.”
“Our agreement changed when your father walked into the room.”
Richard moved between Adrian and the judges.
“If you force a transfer, no jurisdiction will recognize it.”
“I don’t need permanent recognition.”
Helena understood first.
“You only need the patents transferred long enough to secure a loan.”
Adrian smiled.
“Two point eight billion dollars.”
The number stunned the board.
“From whom?” Martin asked.
“Private lenders.”
“Against stolen assets?”
“Against disputed assets.”
I looked at Rebecca.
“Did you know?”
She shook her head.
Adrian turned toward her.
“You wanted half the company.”
“I wanted my mother’s share.”
“And I am giving you the means to take it.”
“By trapping us in a locked building?”
“By preventing interference.”
One of the maintenance men opened the outer panel.
The boardroom doors clicked.
Helena stepped in front of the judges.
The men entered.
They were not hotel security or corporate employees.
One carried a compact weapon beneath his jacket.
The other held a portable drive.
“Everyone remain seated,” the armed man said.
Lenora stared at Adrian.
“You brought armed men into Vale Meridian?”
Adrian’s expression tightened.
“You taught me that power belongs to the person willing to use it.”
For the first time, Lenora looked afraid of what she had created.
The second man connected the portable drive to the boardroom system.
“Founder authentication,” he said.
Rebecca backed away.
“No.”
Adrian looked at her.
“You will authorize Northstar Dominion.”
“I will not.”
He stepped closer.
“Your mother spent her life preparing you for this.”
“She prepared me to reclaim what was stolen, not become a thief.”
“Do you think Claire will share control with you?”
I answered before Rebecca could.
“Yes.”
Every head turned toward me.
Rebecca stared.
I continued.
“If the evidence proves you are Thomas’s daughter and legally entitled to a share, I will support it.”
Adrian laughed.
“You expect her to believe you?”
“I expect her to recognize the difference between justice and revenge.”
Rebecca looked at Mom.
My mother’s face was wet with tears.
“I should have found you,” Mom said.
Evelyn’s expression hardened.
“You did not know she existed.”
“I should have found you.”
“You let me disappear.”
“I thought you were dead.”
“Because that was easier.”
“No. Because Victor showed me your burned belongings and a death certificate.”
Richard spoke.
“The certificate was forged.”
Evelyn turned toward him.
“And you knew.”
“Yes.”
The armed man struck the table with his weapon.
“Enough.”
He pointed toward Rebecca.
“Authenticate the transfer.”
“No.”
Adrian’s voice became cold.
“Rebecca.”
She looked at him.
“You told me Claire was the enemy.”
“She is.”
“You told me Margaret stole the company from my mother.”
“She did.”
“You told me your father was dead.”
Adrian looked toward Richard.
“He was.”
“No. You believed he was.”
She moved closer to Adrian.
“You did not know the truth. You only knew what you needed me to believe.”
“Do not become sentimental now.”
She slapped him.
The sound echoed through the red-lit boardroom.
My hand had struck the other cheek less than twenty-four hours earlier.
Rebecca stared at him.
“That was for my mother.”
For one stunned second, no one moved.
Then Richard attacked the armed man.
He drove his shoulder into the man’s chest.
The weapon fired.
The glass wall shattered.
People screamed and dropped beneath the table.
Helena pulled Dr. Soren to the floor.
Samuel rushed toward the second man.
I saw Adrian grab the portable drive.
He ran toward the side door.
I followed.
“Claire,” Mom shouted.
Adrian reached the executive stairwell.
The door opened despite the lockdown.
He disappeared inside.
I ran after him.
The stairwell was dark except for red emergency lights every three floors.
Adrian moved downward.
I followed the sound of his footsteps.
“Stop.”
He laughed from below.
“You already took everything.”
“You did that yourself.”
“You think you won because my name disappeared from a screen?”
“I think you lost because no one trusts you.”
He reached the thirty-ninth-floor landing.
I saw him through the railing.
The portable drive was in his hand.
“What is on that?” I demanded.
“The only copy that matters.”
“Of what?”
“Your authorization.”
“It is false.”
“It will be real after the registry server accepts it.”
He opened the landing door.
I caught up before it closed.
We entered the executive data center.
Rows of servers glowed in the darkness.
Adrian ran toward a terminal.
I grabbed his arm.
He shoved me away.
My shoulder struck a server cabinet.
Pain shot down my side.
“You were never supposed to find out,” he said.
“About Rebecca?”
“About any of it.”
“You married me before you knew.”
“Yes.”
“Was any of it real?”
For half a second, something moved across his face.
Then it vanished.
“You were perfect until you started questioning me.”
I stared at him.
That was his version of love.
Approval in exchange for silence.
He inserted the drive.
The terminal lit up.
TRANSFER AUTHENTICATION PENDING
I pulled the drive out.
Adrian struck my wrist.
The device fell.
We both reached for it.
A voice behind us said:
“Step away.”
Lenora stood in the doorway holding the weapon fired in the boardroom.
Her hands shook.
Adrian turned.
“Mother.”
“Give me the drive.”
He smiled slowly.
“You finally understand.”
“I understand that you are destroying everything.”
“I am saving us.”
“There is no us after tonight.”
His smile disappeared.
Lenora pointed the weapon at him.
“You were supposed to control Claire. You were supposed to obtain the consent quietly.”
The words struck harder than the threat.
I looked at her.
“You knew.”
She kept her eyes on Adrian.
“I discovered your identity two years ago.”
“You ordered him to manipulate me.”
“I told him to protect the family.”
“By stealing from my son?”
“By preserving what belongs to the Vales.”
Adrian stepped toward her.
“Give me the weapon.”
“No.”
“You won’t use it.”
Lenora’s face twisted.
“I arranged Thomas Hale’s accident before you were born. Do not tell me what I am capable of.”
The data center became silent.
I forgot the pain in my wrist.
Forgot the transfer drive on the floor.
“You ordered the second car,” I said.
Lenora looked at me.
There was no regret in her face.
“Thomas threatened everything Victor built.”
“My mother built it.”
“Your mother invented a valve. Victor created an empire.”
“You murdered my father.”
“I corrected a problem.”
Adrian stared at her.
“You told me Victor ordered it.”
“Victor was weak.”
Richard appeared in the doorway behind her.
Blood covered one sleeve, but he was standing.
“You killed Thomas.”
May you like
Lenora turned.
The weapon fired.
