Chapter 14 - The Other Heir
The other grandchild was named Adrian Hart.
Victor’s son.
Cassidy had never heard his name.
Evelyn erased most references to Adrian after Victor disappeared.
Margaret explained why.
Adrian had been born during Victor’s first marriage.
His mother took him to Europe after divorcing Victor.
When Adrian was sixteen, he renounced any interest in the Hart family.
Or at least that was what Evelyn had believed.
“How old is he now?”
“Thirty-six.”
“Children?”
Margaret hesitated.
“One daughter.”
Cassidy understood Victor’s threat.
The Hart Continuity Trust was designed to keep ownership within Evelyn Hart’s descendants.
Cassidy had always believed she was the final direct beneficiary.
She was not.
If Victor could invalidate Cassidy’s control and establish Adrian’s branch as a competing line, the ownership battle could consume Meridian for years.
“Where is Adrian?”
“We don’t know.”
Marcus did.
He found him in under an hour.
Adrian Hart lived in Seattle.
He taught architectural engineering.
He owned a modest house.
He had no visible connection to Victor.
His eleven-year-old daughter attended public school.
Nothing about his life suggested a man plotting to seize a billion-dollar company.
Cassidy called him.
A man answered cautiously.
“Hello?”
“Adrian Hart?”
“Yes.”
“My name is Cassidy Hart.”
Silence.
Then he sighed.
“I wondered when this would happen.”
Cassidy sat straighter.
“You know who I am.”
“Yes.”
“Do you know what your father is doing?”
“My father?”
“Victor.”
Adrian’s answer came immediately.
“My father is dead.”
Cassidy looked at Margaret.
“No.”
Another silence.
Cassidy sent him a recent surveillance image.
Twenty seconds passed.
Adrian inhaled sharply.
“That’s impossible.”
“When did you last see him?”
“I was fourteen.”
“He has been using you.”
“For what?”
“Your position in the trust.”
Adrian sounded angry now.
“I signed away everything.”
“Do you still have the documents?”
“Yes.”
“Send them to my attorney.”
Adrian did.
Martin reviewed them.
Then his face changed.
“These renunciation documents are invalid.”
Cassidy stared at him.
“Why?”
“Because Adrian signed them at sixteen.”
“A minor.”
“Yes.”
Victor knew it.
Evelyn’s lawyers should have known it too.
Unless the invalidity had been intentional.
A sleeping claim preserved for decades.
Adrian stayed on video conference.
“I want nothing from your company.”
Cassidy believed him.
Then Adrian said something that changed the room again.
“My daughter received a package last month.”
Cassidy’s stomach tightened.
“What package?”
“A scholarship offer.”
“From whom?”
“Vale Educational Foundation.”
Victor had already reached Adrian’s child.
Adrian continued.
“I refused it.”
“What happened?”
“They sent another letter.”
“What did it say?”
Adrian looked directly into the camera.
“That one day my daughter would inherit what Evelyn Hart stole from her grandfather.”
Cassidy closed her eyes.
Victor was not simply resurrecting an old inheritance claim.
He was building pressure around two children.
Adrian’s daughter.
Cassidy’s unborn baby.
Two branches of the Hart family.
Two possible heirs.
One company.
Then Martin’s phone rang.
He answered.
His expression changed immediately.
“What?”
He listened.
Then turned toward Cassidy.
“Victor just filed a petition claiming Adrian’s branch owns forty-nine percent of the Hart Continuity Trust.”
“That’s absurd.”
“It is.”
“Then why do you look worried?”
May you like
Martin swallowed.
“Because the filing includes Evelyn Hart’s signature.”
