Chapter 8 - The Trap at Hart Tower
Sebastian disappeared before police could question him.
Millions of dollars also vanished from accounts connected to the Hart Family Trust.
Naomi discovered that Sebastian had been embezzling money for nearly a decade. If Eleanor died without an identified descendant, the Vale Foundation would gain temporary control of the trust.
Sebastian had known about Travis for almost a year.
He had hired researchers to locate missing Hart heirs after an auditor questioned the trust’s succession plan. When he discovered Travis, he faced a problem.
If Travis learned the truth, Sebastian would lose control of the fortune and risk an investigation.
So he created a scandal powerful enough to silence both mother and son.
He recommended Travis for the library project.
He encouraged their closeness.
He leaked photographs to the press.
He rushed the wedding after Ruth Bell’s evidence appeared.
Sebastian believed shame would make them hide the truth. He planned to destroy the remaining records, discredit Ruth, and claim Travis had fabricated the story to seize Eleanor’s wealth.
He underestimated them.
Eleanor announced an emergency meeting at Hart Tower.
Every board member attended. So did reporters, employees, and representatives from the trust.
Eleanor entered the room beside Travis.
The cameras began flashing.
She stood behind the podium.
“Last week, I married Travis Cole.”
Whispers moved through the room.
“Hours later, we discovered evidence that he is my biological son, taken from me at birth through an illegal adoption arranged by my father and Malcolm Vale.”
The room erupted.
Eleanor did not retreat.
“The marriage was never physically consummated and has been declared void. We are cooperating fully with authorities. DNA testing has confirmed our biological relationship.”
A reporter shouted a question.
Eleanor raised her voice.
“The shame belongs to those who created this crime, not to the people who survived it.”
Travis stepped beside her.
“My adoptive parents were threatened into silence. They loved and protected me. Eleanor Hart was deceived into believing I had died. We will not allow the people responsible to rewrite this as a scandal of our making.”
The boardroom doors opened.
Sebastian entered with two attorneys.
He had taken the bait.
Naomi had released a false report claiming Eleanor intended to transfer the entire trust to Travis that afternoon. Sebastian could not risk allowing it.
“This meeting is illegal,” he announced.
Eleanor faced him.
“You are no longer counsel for Hart Holdings.”
“You cannot remove me without a board vote.”
“The board voted twenty minutes ago.”
Sebastian looked around.
No one defended him.
His expression twisted.
“You think these people will follow him? He is an adopted nobody who manipulated a lonely woman.”
Travis remained calm.
“You introduced us.”
“I introduced an architect to a client.”
“You knew I was her son.”
“That is absurd.”
Naomi activated the screen behind them.
Security footage appeared from Sebastian’s office.
The recording had been recovered from an off-site backup.
Sebastian was visible opening the investigator’s report on the wedding morning. He read the missing page aloud during a phone call.
Travis Cole is almost certainly Eleanor Hart’s biological son. The wedding must be stopped immediately.
On the recording, Sebastian tore the page in half.
Then he said, “Once the vows are signed, neither of them will ever risk making this public.”
The footage ended.
Police officers entered the boardroom.
Sebastian backed away.
“You have no idea what Eleanor’s father did to protect that company.”
Eleanor’s eyes did not leave him.
“My father is dead. His fear no longer controls this family.”
Sebastian pointed at Travis.
“He will take everything from you.”
Eleanor looked at her son.
“No. He is the first person in years who asked me for nothing.”
An officer took Sebastian by the arm.
As he was led away, employees throughout the room began standing.
Not for Eleanor Hart, the billionaire.
May you like
Not for Travis Cole, the missing heir.
They stood for two people who had refused to carry someone else’s shame.
