Chapter 6 - THE BIRTHDAY TRAP
Arthur’s final will did not give the company to Eleanor.
It did not give it to Victor either.
The will transferred voting control to a temporary independent trust for five years. Eleanor and Victor would each receive financial security, but neither could sell the protected properties without approval from three trustees.
Adrian was one of them.
The second was a retired judge.
The third name had been blacked out.
“Vanessa found the will months ago,” Victor said. “She told me it was fake.”
“Why did you believe her?” Eleanor asked.
“Because it said Dad didn’t trust me.”
“He did not trust either of us with unrestricted control.”
“That’s easy for you to accept. You already had his respect.”
Eleanor looked at her son.
“No, Victor. I earned it by telling him when he was wrong.”
Victor paced across the hidden office.
“Vanessa said the will would destroy the merger. Malcolm said thousands of employees would lose their jobs if we delayed the transaction.”
“The merger is designed to steal the company.”
“I know that now.”
Adrian studied him.
“When did you discover it?”
“Two weeks ago. I found messages between Vanessa and Malcolm. They planned to remove me as chief executive immediately after the transfer.”
“Yet you continued preparing the merger.”
Victor’s face tightened.
“I needed them to believe I was cooperating.”
Eleanor almost wanted to believe him.
Then she remembered the boxes beside the road.
“You removed me from my home.”
“Vanessa was watching everything I did.”
“You threatened to have me arrested.”
“I had to convince her.”
“You allowed a doctor to falsify a medical report.”
“I was going to stop it before the court filing.”
“Were you also pretending when you ordered the guards to remove me from the office?”
Victor could not answer.
Adrian picked up the will.
“Perhaps we should discuss what happens next.”
Victor looked at him.
“If Vanessa discovers we have the original, she’ll move the merger forward.”
“She already plans to complete it during your birthday.”
“That’s why we let her.”
Eleanor frowned.
Victor approached the desk.
“The main signing will happen at nine. Vanessa believes Mother will be forced to transfer her shares first.”
“She expects to obtain the compass as well,” Eleanor said.
“I know.”
“You knew she was searching for it?”
“She told me it was a ceremonial key Dad used for old security systems. She did not explain what it activates.”
Adrian placed the original will inside his coat.
“The compass activates Eleanor Ashford Holdings. Once activated, the holding company’s ownership becomes public and every unauthorized transfer is automatically challenged.”
Victor stared at his mother.
“You own the mansion?”
“I own the company that owns it.”
“And the coastal properties?”
“Yes.”
“The Charleston development?”
“Yes.”
“Seventeen assets?”
“According to Arthur.”
Victor sat slowly.
For the first time, Eleanor saw the true size of Vanessa’s deception reach him.
“She was never going to leave me anything,” he said.
“No,” Adrian replied. “You were useful because you had access.”
Victor covered his face with both hands.
Eleanor wanted to comfort him.
She did not.
Some realizations needed to hurt.
After a long silence, Victor looked up.
“What do we do?”
Eleanor answered.
“We allow the birthday party to continue.”
Adrian turned toward her.
“That is dangerous.”
“It is also the only night every conspirator will be in one place.”
Victor nodded slowly.
“Malcolm, the board members, the lenders, Doctor Ellis. They are all invited.”
“Vanessa will pressure me publicly,” Eleanor said. “She wants witnesses who will believe I am unstable.”
“She will use the medical report if you refuse to sign.”
“Then let her.”
Victor stood.
“When she presents it, I’ll expose the ledger.”
Eleanor shook her head.
“She knows you took the will eventually. If you change too early, she will abandon the party.”
“So I continue acting against you?”
“Yes.”
His expression revealed how easy that role had become.
Eleanor continued.
“You will treat me exactly as you have treated me for the last eighteen months.”
Victor looked ashamed.
“And what will you do?”
“I will wear burgundy.”
He stared at her.
“What?”
“Your father specifically instructed me to wear a burgundy gown.”
Adrian smiled faintly.
“Arthur never made requests without a reason.”
The plan required precision.
Adrian would attend under the identity of a private investor. The retired judge named in the will, Margaret Shaw, would remain outside with federal investigators prepared to enter once the evidence was displayed.
Victor would provide access to the mansion’s main security network.
Eleanor would keep the compass hidden until Vanessa made her public move.
They still did not know the identity of the third trustee.
Nor did they know who had called the western wing.
Victor admitted that he had received calls from the same distorted voice.
“What did it say?” Eleanor asked.
“It warned me not to trust Vanessa.”
“When?”
“The first call came the week after Dad disappeared.”
“And you ignored it?”
“I thought it was someone trying to manipulate me.”
“Then what changed?”
“The last call.”
“What did they say?”
Victor looked toward the telephone.
“They told me where Vanessa kept the original will.”
Adrian’s expression hardened.
“Someone has been guiding all of us.”
“Maybe Dad arranged the calls,” Victor said.
“Arthur is dead,” Adrian replied.
Victor did not answer.
Neither did Eleanor.
Before leaving the western wing, Eleanor opened the sealed envelope addressed to Victor.
Inside was a single page.
Son,
If you are reading this, then you have finally reached the room I hoped you would never need to find.
You have spent your life believing I was difficult to impress. The truth is more shameful.
I was afraid that praise would make you careless, so I gave you criticism instead. In trying to prepare you for dishonest people, I made you vulnerable to anyone willing to admire you.
That failure belongs to me.
What you do next belongs to you.
Do not protect the company because it carries my name.
Protect the people who trusted us with their futures.
Victor read the letter silently.
When he finished, he folded it and placed it over his heart.
Two nights later, Eleanor’s burgundy gown arrived at the townhouse.
It had not been ordered by her or Adrian.
The delivery box contained no receipt.
Only another card.
May you like
Do not arrive before eight fifteen.
At the bottom was a small drawing of a compass pointing west.
