Chapter 11 - EIGHTEEN PERCENT
By midnight, the Vance estate looked like a law firm.
Attorneys filled the library.
Accountants occupied the dining room.
Security officers moved through every hallway.
Sarah sat at the center of it all.
She hated the feeling.
Twenty-four hours earlier, she had been cleaning those rooms.
Now lawyers were calling her “Ms. Morgan” and asking how she intended to vote eighteen percent of a corporation she had never known she could control.
“I don’t want the money.”
Sarah said.
Julian’s attorney nodded.
“This is not about money.”
“It is about proxy power.”
“You would temporarily control Leo’s shares as his guardian.”
Sarah looked at Julian.
“What happens if I vote against the merger?”
“Sterling Holdings collapses unless they find another buyer.”
“And if I vote for it?”
“Victoria gains a major stake in Vance International.”
Sarah understood.
That was why Victoria had spent five years hiding Leo.
Not jealousy.
Not romance.
Control.
Julian paced beside the fireplace.
“We can ask the court for emergency recognition.”
His attorney shook his head.
“The board vote happens at nine.”
“We need evidence of deliberate fraud before then.”
Sarah remembered Daniel Cross.
“He confessed.”
“Privately.”
“He needs to sign an affidavit.”
Julian called Daniel.
No answer.
Again.
Nothing.
Security checked his location.
His phone had gone offline.
Sarah’s stomach tightened.
“Victoria got to him.”
Julian did not disagree.
At 1:17 a.m., an email arrived from Daniel.
There was no message.
Only one attachment.
A photograph.
It showed an old file box labeled VANCE MATTER.
Written beneath it were three words.
ORIGINALS STILL EXIST.
Julian called immediately.
No answer.
Then Sarah noticed something in the photograph.
A storage company logo.
Lakefront Archive Services.
Julian’s security team found the address.
The facility was forty minutes away.
Sarah stood.
“I’m going.”
“No.”
Julian answered immediately.
She glared at him.
“You don’t get to decide that.”
“It could be dangerous.”
“This evidence concerns my son.”
Julian stopped.
She was right.
He exhaled.
“Then we go together.”
Before they could leave, Mrs. Alvarez entered.
“Mr. Vance.”
“There is someone downstairs.”
“Who?”
She hesitated.
“Your chief of staff.”
Julian frowned.
Marcus Hale had worked for him for eleven years.
“He says he needs to confess something before you go anywhere.”
Marcus entered looking sick.
He closed the door.
Then he placed an old access card on the table.
“I helped Victoria.”
Julian stared at him.
“With what?”
Marcus could barely meet his eyes.
“With Sarah.”
May you like
“And with Leo.”
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