Chapter 2 - THE FAMILY AGREEMENT)
Dinner was served beneath a chandelier worth more than Elena’s first apartment.
Victor sat at the head of the table.
That was Arthur’s chair.
Elena noticed immediately.
Arthur did not attend.
Victor said he was tired.
Leo barely ate.
Every few minutes Elena caught him looking toward the west corridor.
After dessert, Victor folded his napkin.
“There’s one small family matter we should handle tomorrow.”
Elena kept her voice neutral.
“What matter?”
“Michael’s remaining trust holdings.”
Silence spread around the table.
So that was it.
Elena looked from Victor to the two attorneys.
“I thought Michael’s estate was settled three years ago.”
“Most of it.”
Victor smiled.
“Not everything.”
One attorney opened a leather folder.
Michael had owned twenty-six percent of Sterling Advanced Industries.
When he died, those shares entered a trust.
Elena was trustee until Leo turned twenty-five.
She knew that.
Victor knew she knew.
“What exactly needs handling?”
“A technical correction.”
Victor lifted his wineglass.
“Nothing dramatic.”
Elena heard the stranger’s voice.
Don’t sign anything.
“What correction?”
The attorney slid a document across the table.
Victor stopped him.
“Tomorrow.”
Elena looked directly at her brother-in-law.
“Why not now?”
He smiled.
“Because tonight is about family.”
Arthur’s empty chair stood between them like an accusation.
Elena smiled back.
“Of course.”
Later, when Victor asked whether she needed anything before bed, Elena placed one hand against the wall.
She closed her eyes.
“Actually…”
Everyone turned.
She let her knees soften.
Victor rushed forward.
“Elena?”
She breathed slowly.
“I feel dizzy.”
The stranger’s instruction suddenly made sense.
People reveal themselves when plans go wrong.
Victor did.
His concern lasted perhaps two seconds.
Then he looked at the attorney.
Not at Elena.
At the attorney.
“Can she still sign?”
The question came so quietly Elena might have missed it.
But she did not.
The lawyer frowned.
“Not if she’s impaired.”
Victor’s jaw tightened.
Elena pretended not to hear.
Margaret helped her upstairs.
“Travel exhaustion,” the woman said.
“You should rest.”
Elena entered Michael’s old room with Leo.
The moment the door closed, she checked the hallway.
Empty.
Leo sat on the bed.
“Mom?”
“Yes?”
“What if Grandpa’s scared?”
Elena turned.
“What makes you say that?”
“When he hugged me, his hand was shaking.”
“He’s old.”
Leo shook his head.
“Not that kind of shaking.”
Elena sat beside him.
“What kind?”
“The kind I do when I have to talk in front of class.”
Fear.
Elena looked toward the door.
“Tell me exactly what Grandpa said.”
Leo thought.
“He said, ‘Your father left something for you.’ Then he said, ‘Seventeen remembers what the family forgets.’”
Elena felt a chill.
Room 17.
“What else?”
“He said if Uncle Victor asks, I didn’t hear anything.”
Elena removed the gray handkerchief.
Leo stared at it.
“What’s that?”
“A warning.”
She showed him the note.
Leo’s face became serious.
“Who gave you that?”
“A man on the bus.”
“Do you know him?”
“No.”
“Then why should we trust him?”
Elena almost smiled despite everything.
Michael used to ask exactly those kinds of questions.
“We shouldn’t.”
Leo nodded.
“But we shouldn’t ignore him either.”
“Exactly.”
They waited until the house grew quiet.
At eleven twenty, Elena told Leo to lock the door and open it for no one.
She slipped into the corridor.
The library lights were on.
Voices carried through the partially opened door.
Victor.
The attorney.
Another man.
Elena approached.
Victor slammed something down.
“She has to sign tomorrow. We need those shares.”
The lawyer lowered his voice.
“She’s suspicious.”
“She’s grieving, isolated and financially inexperienced.”
Elena almost laughed at the absurdity.
Victor continued.
“Once the voting proxy transfers, the board can approve the Meridian sale.”
“And Leo?”
The unseen man asked.
Victor stopped.
Elena leaned closer.
“The trust terminates under specific conditions.”
“What conditions?”
“Guardianship changes. Incapacity. Death.”
Elena stopped breathing.
The lawyer spoke quickly.
“No one is talking about hurting anybody.”
Victor’s reply was colder.
“I’m talking about solving a corporate problem.”
A chair scraped.
Elena backed away.
Then she heard Arthur’s voice.
“If she signs that document, you’ll have everything.”
Elena froze.
Arthur was inside.
Victor answered.
“You should be in bed.”
“I built this company.”
“And now you can barely remember what day it is.”
Arthur laughed softly.
“I remember enough.”
Victor’s tone sharpened.
“Then remember who controls your medication.”
Silence.
Elena’s stomach turned.
Victor gathered papers.
“Tomorrow morning. Nine o’clock. She signs.”
Arthur said:
“She won’t.”
Victor laughed.
“She already agreed to come here. People like Elena always confuse politeness with power.”
Elena retreated.
She reached her bedroom.
Locked the door.
Pulled Leo against her.
May you like
Then the footsteps began.
Twenty minutes later, hidden inside the secret passage, she understood they had run out of time.
