Chapter 15 - WHAT ELISE FOUND
After court, Elise finally told me.
Before her disappearance, she had discovered something inside my family's company.
Not stolen money.
Not fraud.
Something worse.
A list of children.
Hundreds of them.
Their identities had been used to create fake trusts and secret accounts.
Perrin's name was on the list.
I felt sick.
“Why?”
“Because your father created the first trust for him.”
“Then why would they want Perrin?”
“Because he was the only legal heir they couldn't control.”
Everything suddenly made sense.
The hidden room.
The threats.
The obsession with Perrin.
They hadn't simply wanted my company.
They wanted the future ownership.
Perrin was the key.
If I died, he inherited everything.
If Elise disappeared, they controlled his guardianship.
If Rhea married me, she could become his legal stepmother.
The plan had been simple.
Remove Elise.
Control me.
Control Perrin.
Control the inheritance.
I sat silently.
Then Perrin walked in.
“What's wrong?”
I pulled him close.
“Nothing you need to worry about.”
Elise looked at me.
“We can't lie to him forever.”
“I know.”
That night, we destroyed every document connecting Perrin to the old trust.
Then I did something my father never had the courage to do.
I signed the company away.
I placed it into an independent foundation.
Perrin would never be used as leverage again.
The next morning, the news broke.
The Hale empire no longer belonged to the Hale family.
I expected outrage.
Instead, thousands of employees sent messages thanking me.
For the first time, I understood.
My father had spent his life protecting an empire.
I was choosing to protect my family.
But Judge Kane still had one last move.
He demanded a private meeting.
May you like
He wanted Elise.
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