Chapter 11 - The Secret Board Meeting
The chapel doors were guarded by men wearing Vale security uniforms.
Marcus did not recognize them.
They belonged to a private force hired by Julian.
Adrian approached the entrance alone.
The guards crossed their weapons.
“You are no longer authorized to enter.”
“This is my estate.”
“Not according to the emergency board resolution.”
Julian had already convinced the board to suspend Adrian.
Inside, a recorded image showed Adrian signing the proxy documents on the night Richard died.
Julian described him as an ambitious son who drugged his father and seized the company.
Adrian did not argue.
Instead, he looked toward the chapel’s stained-glass windows.
“Marcus.”
The security chief activated the exterior storm shutters.
Steel panels slammed over every exit.
Nora entered through the choir passage with Grace.
Celeste and Ethan followed.
The board members rose in alarm.
Julian stood at the altar.
His expression remained calm.
“You cannot imprison the board.”
Adrian walked down the center aisle.
“You locked my wedding guests inside a ballroom.”
“Consider this a family tradition.”
Nora connected Michael’s microfilm key to the chapel projector.
The footage changed.
A hidden camera showed Julian entering Adrian’s room during the retreat.
He added medication to the whiskey.
He later helped Dr. Pierce carry Adrian into Richard’s suite.
Charles waited near the bed.
Richard was still alive.
Julian placed the proxy document beneath Adrian’s hand.
Then he whispered to Charles.
“Once Adrian controls the company, we control Adrian.”
The board members turned toward Julian.
He did not look surprised.
“You are watching fragments.”
Grace loaded the next file.
Michael Bennett’s recording showed Julian meeting with Charles after Richard’s death.
Julian demanded half of the hidden voting trust.
Charles refused.
Julian promised to destroy both Vale and Wynn families.
A board member stood.
“Julian, did you arrange tonight’s poisoning?”
“Yes.”
The direct answer stunned everyone.
“But not for the reason Adrian believes.”
Julian removed a remote from his pocket.
“The company you are fighting over no longer belongs to any of you.”
He pressed a button.
Every screen displayed a transfer confirmation.
Ninety-one percent of Vale Global’s voting shares had been moved into an unknown trust.
Adrian stared at the document.
“Who controls it?”
Julian smiled.
“The legal child of Richard Vale.”
“I am Richard’s legal child.”
“No.”
“Richard changed the birth records before he died.”
“He acknowledged someone else.”
The chapel doors opened.
A woman entered wearing a dark green coat.
Nora recognized her immediately.
Helena Cross.
May you like
Julian’s mother.
The woman who had supposedly died on the boat nineteen years earlier.
