Chapter 13 - NINE O’CLOCK
The emergency board meeting began at nine sharp.
Sarah entered Vance Tower beside Julian.
Reporters packed the sidewalk.
Camera flashes followed them through the doors.
Sarah wore a simple navy dress borrowed from Mrs. Alvarez.
She had refused the designer clothes Julian offered.
“I want them to see me.”
she had said.
“Not who they think I should look like.”
Leo remained at the estate with trusted security.
For the first time since the gala, Sarah felt comfortable leaving him.
That comfort lasted twelve minutes.
Inside the boardroom, Victoria sat beside three Sterling executives.
She looked immaculate.
No one would have guessed she had spent the previous night fighting for control of a collapsing empire.
“Sarah.”
Victoria smiled.
“I see the uniform is gone.”
Sarah sat down.
Julian remained standing.
The board’s attorney opened proceedings.
Victoria’s legal team immediately challenged Leo’s paternity test.
Then they challenged Sarah’s authority.
Then they claimed Marcus’s messages had been fabricated.
For an hour, lawyers argued.
Finally Julian played Victoria’s old voicemail.
Her own voice filled the boardroom.
“Julian has received your messages.”
“He does not wish to speak with you.”
Victoria’s attorney stood.
“An audio recording without authentication proves nothing.”
Sarah’s heart sank.
Marcus authenticated it.
Daniel Cross was still missing.
The storage facility had been emptied before Julian’s team arrived.
Someone remained one step ahead.
Then Victoria made her move.
“I propose we proceed with the merger vote.”
Three directors immediately agreed.
Julian’s attorney asked for a delay.
Denied.
Votes began.
The count was close.
Without Leo’s eighteen percent, the merger would pass.
Victoria watched Sarah.
A tiny smile appeared.
Then Sarah’s phone vibrated.
She ignored it.
Again.
Finally she glanced down.
A message from Mrs. Alvarez.
CALL ME NOW.
Sarah stepped outside.
“What happened?”
Mrs. Alvarez sounded breathless.
“Leo found something inside his tuxedo.”
Sarah frowned.
“What?”
“A second card.”
“It was stitched inside the jacket lining.”
Sarah remembered the tuxedo.
Victoria had arranged for Leo to wear it.
“What does it say?”
Mrs. Alvarez read the words aloud.
IF SHE REFUSES, USE THE HOSPITAL RECORD.
Sarah went cold.
“What hospital record?”
“I don’t know.”
Then Leo’s small voice came through the phone.
“Mommy?”
“I’m here.”
“The shiny lady told the man in the car that Grandma Sarah signed papers.”
Sarah froze.
“My mother?”
Leo had never met Sarah’s mother.
She had died three years earlier.
“What did she call her?”
Leo thought.
“She said Helen.”
Sarah stopped breathing.
Her mother’s name had been Helen Morgan.
And suddenly Sarah remembered something she had spent years believing was meaningless.
The night Leo was born, a strange attorney had arrived at the hospital.
He had asked Helen to sign a document while Sarah was sedated.
Sarah had never known what it was.
May you like
Until now.
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