Chapter 11 - the dead man's will)
The reading of Victor DeLuca's will took place Friday morning.
By then, the story had become international news.
Federal investigators had seized records from DeLuca Holdings.
Dominic had been ordered not to leave the country.
Jessica was cooperating.
My mother remained in protective custody.
And I had slept approximately six hours in four days.
Victor's attorneys gathered us in the board auditorium.
Dominic sat on one side with three lawyers.
I sat opposite him with Adrian.
Jessica was not invited.
Mara represented the company.
Two independent trustees attended.
The board watched from the rear.
Adrian stood.
"Victor DeLuca recorded a supplemental statement to accompany the will."
Dominic laughed.
"Of course he did."
The screen turned on.
Victor appeared again.
This recording was different.
He looked weaker.
"Dominic."
His son looked away.
"If you are watching this, you probably hate me."
Victor paused.
"That is fair."
No one moved.
"I spent most of your childhood teaching you to fear losing."
Dominic looked back toward the screen.
"I praised you when you won. I excused you when you hurt people. I told myself ambition was strength because ambition built everything around us."
Victor looked tired.
"I was wrong."
Dominic's jaw tightened.
"I cannot repair what I made you into by giving you more power."
Adrian opened the will.
Victor continued.
"My personal residences, artwork, vehicles, and noncorporate investments will be liquidated except where otherwise specified."
Dominic frowned.
"The proceeds will be divided between the DeLuca Employee Pension Trust, the Anna DeLuca Children's Medical Foundation, and the Rebecca Marlowe Engineering Scholarship Fund."
I turned toward Adrian.
He gave a slight nod.
Victor continued.
"My controlling shares in DeLuca Holdings will not pass to Dominic."
The room erupted.
Dominic stood.
"This is invalid."
His lawyer pulled him back down.
Victor continued as though he could hear him.
"Fifty-one percent of voting control will transfer to the DeLuca Employee Trust."
Mara closed her eyes.
Employees.
Victor had given control of the empire to the people who worked inside it.
"Twenty percent will remain with the DeLuca Foundation."
Another pause.
"The remaining voting authority will be overseen for eighteen months by an independent chair."
I already knew.
Still, hearing it made my stomach turn.
"Elena Marlowe DeLuca."
Dominic laughed loudly.
"She's an architect."
Victor almost seemed to smile.
"Elena, you are an architect. That is precisely why you are suitable."
A few people looked at me.
"Architects understand that structures fail when weight is concentrated where it should not be."
I swallowed hard.
"You are not required to remain after eighteen months. In fact, I hope you do not."
That surprised me.
"Your job is not to become a DeLuca. Your job is to help this company stop behaving like one man's possession."
Dominic stood again.
"What do I get?"
Victor's recorded eyes seemed to settle on him.
"My son receives a trust valued at fifty million dollars."
Dominic stopped.
Then Victor continued.
"It is contingent upon one condition."
Everyone waited.
"Dominic must not be convicted of financial fraud, conspiracy, witness intimidation, attempted murder, or any felony related to DeLuca Holdings."
The silence became almost comical.
Victor lifted one eyebrow.
"If you are innocent, son, you will remain wealthy."
Someone in the rear coughed to hide a laugh.
"If you are guilty, the trust transfers entirely to the employee pension fund."
Dominic's face turned dark red.
Victor then addressed me.
"Elena, you will receive the old estate."
I stared at the screen.
"Not because you married my son."
Victor's voice softened.
"Because your mother saved it."
He explained.
The waterfront fraud my mother exposed decades earlier had nearly destroyed Victor's company.
Her intervention allowed him to restructure before the corruption expanded.
The old estate had been purchased with profits from the first successful project after that crisis.
"I offered Rebecca money. She refused."
My mother had told me that.
"She said if I ever felt indebted, I should repay the debt by becoming less arrogant."
A few people laughed.
"I failed."
Victor smiled faintly.
"So I am giving the house to her daughter. Elena may keep it, sell it, burn it, or turn it into a museum of poor decisions."
Even I laughed.
Then his face became serious.
"There is one final matter."
Dominic's attorney leaned forward.
Victor said, "Rebecca."
I stopped breathing.
"If you are watching, I am sorry."
The screen showed him looking down at his hands.
"When you came to me after the attack, you asked me to protect Elena."
Dominic's head snapped up.
"I believed keeping her ignorant would keep her safe."
Victor shook his head.
"That was cowardice disguised as protection."
My eyes burned.
"I should have told her."
The screen went black.
Adrian closed the will.
Dominic stood.
"This isn't over."
I looked at him.
"No."
May you like
I thought of the recording in Montreal.
"It isn't."
