Chapter 13 - Chloe's Choice
I did not like Chloe.
That was important.
I did not suddenly forgive her because Beatrice had turned against her.
Chloe had knowingly helped destroy my marriage.
She had smiled while Julian humiliated me.
She had watched me lie on the floor.
But dislike did not make kidnapping acceptable.
"Can you trace it?"
I asked.
Reed shook her head.
"Burner routed through several services."
"Is she actually being held?"
"We don't know."
The bruised lip suggested something had happened.
The expression in Chloe's eyes suggested more.
Another message arrived.
Guardian waiver.
Midnight.
No police.
I handed the phone back.
"She still wants the waiver."
"Which tells us the trust matters."
"More than the money?"
"Possibly."
Evelyn looked at the clock.
"If Beatrice gains guardianship authority before the trust activates, she can influence the voting shares."
"Grace is in the NICU."
"And legally vulnerable."
The words made me sick.
"What do we do?"
Reed spoke carefully.
"We make Beatrice believe you're considering it."
I hated the idea.
But my father had not saved evidence for me to become reckless now.
I typed one sentence.
I want proof Chloe is alive.
The reply came immediately.
A video call request.
Reed's technicians began tracing.
I answered.
Chloe appeared on the screen.
Her hands were free.
She sat in what looked like an office.
"Clara."
"Where are you?"
She looked beyond the camera.
"I can't say."
"Are you hurt?"
"I'm okay."
"Then leave."
Chloe laughed bitterly.
"I tried."
Beatrice's voice came from offscreen.
"Enough."
I felt every muscle tighten.
Then my mother-in-law stepped into frame.
Perfect hair.
Pearl earrings.
No panic.
"Clara."
"Beatrice."
"How is the baby?"
The casual question nearly broke my control.
"Alive despite your son."
"Julian has always been emotional."
"You manufactured the situation."
"I created an opportunity."
"He chose violence."
"On that, we agree."
The coldness stunned me.
"You don't care that he's in jail."
"I care about this family."
"You care about control."
"Those are often the same thing."
Reed silently motioned for me to keep talking.
"What do you want?"
"You know."
"The waiver."
"Sign it."
"And Chloe walks?"
"Immediately."
Chloe suddenly looked at the screen.
"No."
Beatrice turned.
"Quiet."
Chloe spoke louder.
"Don't sign anything."
Beatrice slapped her.
My hands clenched.
Chloe looked back into the camera.
Tears filled her eyes.
"She lied about the bank account."
Beatrice moved toward the phone.
Chloe shouted.
"The money isn't overseas."
The screen shook.
Reed leaned closer.
Chloe screamed one final sentence.
"It's inside Vance Holdings."
The call ended.
I stared at the black screen.
Evelyn whispered, "What does that mean?"
I understood before Reed did.
Beatrice hadn't siphoned two hundred and eighty million dollars out of the company.
She had buried it inside subsidiaries.
Hidden assets.
Hidden voting stakes.
Hidden ownership.
"She's not protecting cash."
I looked at Evelyn.
"She's protecting control."
Reed's technicians suddenly raised their voices from the hallway.
"We have a location."
Reed moved.
"Where?"
One agent showed her the screen.
An office building in downtown Manhattan.
I recognized the address.
Vance Holdings headquarters.
I stared.
"She's holding Chloe inside the building the FBI already raided?"
Reed understood the insult.
Beatrice wasn't hiding.
She was daring them to see what they had missed.
Then Evelyn's phone rang.
It was the Vance corporate secretary.
She listened for ten seconds.
Her face changed.
"Clara."
"What?"
"Beatrice just called an emergency board meeting."
"When?"
"Tomorrow morning."
"Why?"
Evelyn swallowed.
"She's proposing the sale of twenty-seven percent of Vance Holdings to an unknown private buyer."
Twenty-seven percent.
Almost exactly enough to wipe out the voting power Grace and I might gain.
May you like
Beatrice wasn't waiting for the legal fight.
She was moving the company before we could claim it.
