Chapter 2 - The Folder
Adrian held out his hand.
“Give it to me.”
Vanessa did not.
Guests stood frozen beneath crystal chandeliers worth more than Clara would earn in a lifetime.
A string quartet remained silent near the stage.
Two security guards waited near the doors, uncertain whom they were supposed to obey.
Vanessa’s father was one of the foundation’s largest donors.
Vanessa herself had been giving orders all evening.
But Adrian Beaumont owned the palace.
And suddenly, everyone remembered it.
Vanessa forced a smile.
“You’re embarrassing yourself.”
Adrian’s hand remained extended.
“The folder.”
“It’s a routine foundation document.”
“Then you won’t mind showing me.”
Vanessa looked toward Evelyn.
For one brief second, hatred broke through the polished mask.
Clara saw it.
Adrian saw that too.
Vanessa handed him the folder.
He opened it.
His expression changed after the first page.
Then the second.
Then the third.
“What is this?”
Vanessa folded her arms.
“A restructuring agreement.”
“My mother’s personal residence is listed as collateral.”
“Temporarily.”
“The Beaumont Foundation art collection is listed too.”
“That’s standard.”
Adrian looked up.
“No, it isn’t.”
Evelyn closed her eyes.
Clara saw exhaustion settle over the older woman’s face.
She moved instinctively closer to the wheelchair.
Vanessa noticed.
“Get away from her.”
Clara ignored her.
Adrian looked at Clara again.
“Stay.”
One word.
But it changed the balance in the room.
Vanessa stared at him.
“You’re taking the maid’s side?”
“I’m asking the only person who stopped you from hitting my mother to remain beside her.”
“I wasn’t going to hit her.”
Evelyn opened her eyes.
“Yes, you were.”
Vanessa’s jaw tightened.
Adrian turned several pages.
Then stopped.
Near the bottom of one document was a signature line.
EVELYN MARIE BEAUMONT.
Unsigned.
Another line had already been completed.
VICTOR STERLING.
Adrian’s face hardened.
“My mother’s assets would transfer into a management entity controlled by your father.”
Vanessa stepped closer.
“You’re misunderstanding the structure.”
“I understand ownership.”
“It would stabilize the foundation.”
“By giving your family control over it?”
Vanessa lowered her voice.
“You asked me to help.”
“I asked you to coordinate tonight’s gala.”
“You asked me to protect your family while you were in London.”
“And this is protection?”
Vanessa’s composure slipped.
“Your mother is not capable of making financial decisions anymore.”
Evelyn flinched.
Adrian’s eyes sharpened.
“Be very careful.”
Vanessa glanced toward the crowd.
Her reputation was collapsing in real time.
She knew it.
So she changed tactics.
Her eyes filled with tears.
“I have spent six months holding this organization together while you traveled.”
Adrian said nothing.
“I defended your mother when board members questioned her judgment.”
Still nothing.
“I protected you from scandals.”
Adrian closed the folder.
“What scandals?”
That question caught her.
Clara noticed.
Vanessa recovered quickly.
“Business problems.”
“What business problems?”
“You know exactly what I mean.”
“No.”
Adrian stepped closer.
“I don’t.”
Vanessa looked toward the surrounding guests.
“We shouldn’t discuss this here.”
“You were comfortable discussing my mother’s assets here.”
She said nothing.
Adrian handed the folder to his attorney, Marcus Hale, who had just entered from the corridor.
“Photograph every page.”
Vanessa’s head snapped toward him.
“Adrian.”
“And nobody leaves.”
The room stirred.
Vanessa stared.
“You cannot imprison three hundred guests.”
“I’m not imprisoning anyone.”
Adrian looked toward security.
“I’m preserving evidence from an attempted coercion involving my mother.”
For the first time, Vanessa truly looked afraid.
Then she turned toward Clara.
And smiled.
It was a small smile.
Cold.
Deliberate.
Clara instantly knew what it meant.
Vanessa had lost control of the room.
So now she needed someone else to blame.
May you like
And Clara had just made herself the easiest target.
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