Chapter 4 - Arthur Vale’s Last Will
At nine the next morning, Ethan called Nathaniel Brooks, the senior attorney responsible for the Vale family trust.
Nathaniel had served Arthur Vale for more than thirty years. He was seventy-one, careful with every word, and almost impossible to surprise.
But when Ethan asked what happened to the company shares after his child’s birth, Nathaniel stopped speaking.
“Where are you?” the attorney finally asked.
“At the estate.”
“Is your mother present?”
“Yes.”
“Do not discuss this over the phone.”
“Then come here.”
“I cannot.”
“Why?”
“Because I was removed as active trustee three months ago.”
Ethan sat upright.
“By whom?”
“Your mother and two board members submitted a medical statement declaring me cognitively unfit.”
“Are you?”
Nathaniel sounded offended.
“I defeated three younger attorneys in court last Tuesday.”
“Who replaced you?”
“Malcolm Cross.”
The name was familiar.
Malcolm was Vivian’s personal attorney and a member of the Vale Meridian board.
“What is in my father’s trust?” Ethan asked.
Nathaniel lowered his voice.
“Meet me at the old municipal archives at noon. Come alone.”
Elena, who had been listening beside Ethan, shook her head.
Ethan covered the phone.
“I’m not going alone.”
“You need to appear cooperative,” she whispered. “I’ll follow separately.”
Two hours later, Ethan entered the city archives.
Elena waited across the street in a café, watching through the window.
Nathaniel arrived carrying a worn leather briefcase.
He led Ethan into a private records room.
“Your father revised his will six months before his death,” Nathaniel said. “The public document gave you operational control of Vale Meridian, but not permanent voting control.”
“Who has the voting shares?”
“The Legacy Trust.”
“My mother told us the baby receives them.”
“Your child becomes the primary beneficiary at birth. The child’s mother becomes temporary voting trustee until the child turns twenty-five.”
Ethan stared at him.
“Elena will control fifty-one percent of the company?”
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t anyone tell me?”
“Arthur demanded secrecy. He believed disclosure would place your wife and child at risk.”
“My father died before I met Elena.”
“He anticipated that you might marry.”
“Why exclude me?”
Nathaniel opened his briefcase.
“Because Arthur discovered financial transfers connected to someone using your executive authority.”
“That makes no sense. I wasn’t chief executive before he died.”
“The authorization carried your identification and digital signature.”
“Someone forged them.”
“Arthur believed so.”
“My mother?”
“He never named the person.”
Nathaniel removed a photocopy of the trust amendment.
A paragraph had been circled.
Upon the birth of a lawful descendant, all controlling interests shall be protected from previous trustees, spouses, executive officers, and current board members.
“Previous trustees,” Ethan said. “That includes my mother.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Arthur believed someone close to him had stolen nearly $180 million through shell companies.”
Ethan felt the air leave his lungs.
“The company’s audits never showed that.”
“The transfers were hidden as acquisitions. Malcolm Cross approved most of them.”
“Why wasn’t Malcolm investigated?”
“Your father died before he could present the evidence.”
Ethan’s voice hardened.
“The official report said he suffered a heart attack.”
“I know.”
“You think that was false?”
“I think Arthur was frightened during his final week. He called me the night before he died and said he had discovered what happened at Saint Orla House.”
Ethan looked up sharply.
“You know about Saint Orla?”
Nathaniel’s face became guarded.
“Who told you?”
“My wife received a photograph.”
“Then they know she is searching.”
“Who are they?”
“I don’t know how many people are involved.”
Nathaniel handed him a brass key.
“Arthur rented a deposit box under another name. He told me to give you this only when you had a child on the way.”
“What is inside?”
“I never opened it.”
“Where is the box?”
“First Union Bank. Branch fourteen.”
Ethan put the key in his pocket.
“Why meet here?”
“Because this building still uses paper visitor records. Malcolm cannot delete them remotely.”
Outside, Elena noticed a black sedan park near the archive entrance.
A man remained behind the wheel.
Another man crossed the street.
Elena recognized him.
Dr. Marcus Bell, the physician Vivian wanted to supervise her pregnancy.
He entered the archives.
Elena called Ethan.
This time, the call connected.
“You need to leave,” she said.
“Why?”
“Dr. Bell just entered.”
Ethan and Nathaniel hurried toward a side exit.
Before they reached it, the fire alarm sounded.
Sprinklers activated across the records room.
Employees rushed toward the stairs.
Through the confusion, Ethan saw Dr. Bell standing at the far end of the corridor.
The doctor did not look surprised by the alarm.
He looked directly at Ethan and raised his phone.
Nathaniel grabbed Ethan’s arm.
“Do not let him see the key.”
They escaped through a service stairwell.
When Ethan emerged into the alley, Elena was waiting in a taxi.
Nathaniel entered first.
Ethan followed.
As the taxi pulled away, Ethan looked back.
Dr. Bell stood beneath the archive entrance.
Beside him was Malcolm Cross.
May you like
Malcolm watched the taxi disappear.
Then he called Vivian.
