Chapter 11 - the board chooses a side
The ballroom erupted.
Questions came from every direction.
Marcus remained beside the locked doors, looking only at Claire.
“Where is he?” she demanded.
“I don’t know.”
“You raised my son and you don’t know where he is?”
“Not at first.”
His words made no sense.
Claire descended from the platform.
“Start at the beginning.”
Marcus removed a photograph from his wallet.
It showed a boy of about five standing beside a lake. He had dark hair, serious eyes and a small scar beneath his left eyebrow.
Claire saw Sophie in the shape of his face.
She saw Daniel in the way he stood.
“Blackwood placed him with my daughter and her husband,” Marcus said. “They believed it was a legal adoption.”
“Your daughter knew nothing?”
“Nothing. Samuel was eight months old when they brought him home.”
“Why didn’t you tell me after Edmund found you?”
“I did not know Samuel was yours. His records listed a mother who had died during childbirth.”
Anna stepped closer.
“When did you learn?”
“Two years ago. Edmund showed me the original bracelet number.”
Daniel took the photograph.
“Why didn’t you bring him to us?”
“Because by then he was missing.”
The answer silenced the room around them.
Marcus continued.
“My daughter and her husband died in a highway accident three years ago. I became Samuel’s guardian. Six months later, someone took him from his school.”
Claire struggled to breathe.
“Adrian Voss?”
“I believe so.”
“And you stayed here working for Vivienne?”
“I stayed because Edmund believed Adrian was still receiving orders from someone inside the estate. We watched every account and vehicle, but Adrian knew we were looking.”
Sophie approached Marcus.
“Is Samuel nice?”
Marcus’s face softened.
“He loves astronomy. He never eats the crust on sandwiches. And when he is worried, he counts backward from one hundred.”
“Does he know about me?”
“No.”
Sophie took the photograph.
“He looks lonely.”
Claire placed an arm around her.
Daniel faced Marcus.
“You should have told us the moment we arrived.”
“I needed Vivienne to believe I still knew nothing.”
Vivienne laughed from the platform.
“You all want me to be the monster in this story, but I never touched that boy.”
“You arranged his transfer,” Dr. Cole said.
“I authorized a private adoption.”
“Without his mother’s consent.”
Vivienne looked at the guests.
“Claire was unconscious. The child required expensive care. I found him a family.”
“You sold him,” Anna said.
“That is an emotional word for a legal service.”
Helen struck the table with the board gavel.
“This review is not a public trial. The board must determine control of the foundation and estate.”
“It is already determined,” Claire said. “The deed is valid. Edmund’s competency is recorded. Sophie’s identity is confirmed.”
Robert Dane nodded.
“I move to recognize the trust.”
Helen seconded the motion.
One by one, the board members voted.
The first three supported Claire.
Two opposed her.
Robert voted yes.
The remaining directors hesitated.
Vivienne stepped forward.
“Before you vote, remember who built your companies, paid your debts and placed your children in universities.”
Claire looked at them.
“And remember what she did to children who had no powerful parents.”
The seventh director voted yes.
The eighth followed.
The final vote was no longer necessary.
Helen struck the gavel.
“The Edmund Ashcroft Children’s Trust is recognized. Claire Bennett is confirmed as controlling trustee.”
Sophie looked up at Claire.
“Does that mean we own the mansion?”
“It means the trust owns it.”
“Can a trust make Vivienne leave?”
Several guests attempted not to smile.
Claire looked at Vivienne.
“Yes.”
Vivienne’s control finally broke.
“You cannot throw me out of my own home.”
“You tried to throw Sophie out of hers.”
Claire turned to Marcus.
“Vivienne Ashcroft’s access to the private wing, foundation accounts and document archives is revoked. Escort her to the east guest suite until the police arrive.”
Vivienne looked toward Daniel.
“You will allow this?”
Daniel stood beside Sophie.
“You stole seven years from my daughter and a lifetime from my son.”
“I raised you.”
“You managed me.”
“I protected your name.”
Daniel looked around the ballroom.
“My name is the least valuable thing in this room.”
Vivienne pointed toward Claire.
“She will take the company.”
“I hope she does.”
“She will destroy everything your father built.”
“No,” Claire said. “I am going to find out what you built beneath it.”
Marcus approached Vivienne.
She did not move.
Instead, she reached beneath the auction table.
A sharp alarm sounded.
Every chandelier went dark.
The ballroom fell into blackness.
Claire grabbed Sophie.
A woman screamed Claire’s name.
Then came the sound of a chair overturning and glass breaking.
Emergency lights flickered on.
May you like
Vivienne was gone.
So was the steel case containing Samuel’s DNA report.
