Chapter 7 - The Brother Who Missed Five Christmases
Michael Vance entered the hotel at 2:13 a.m.
Grace’s team found him in a church shelter six blocks away.
Victoria slapped him before she hugged him.
“You let me bury you.”
“I know.”
“You let me stand beside an empty coffin.”
“I know.”
“You let your daughter grow up thinking her father was dead.”
Michael closed his eyes.
“I know.”
Ethan watched from across the room.
Then he punched his brother once in the shoulder.
Not hard.
Hard enough.
“You don’t get ‘I know’ with me.”
Michael nodded.
“I deserve worse.”
“Start talking.”
Five years earlier, Michael and Sarah had discovered North Star was
being used to siphon money from Bellweather properties. But the stolen
money was secondary. The real purpose was leverage.
Fake debts were created.
Employees were pressured.
Managers were compromised.
Information was collected.
Someone wanted enough control inside Bellweather to destroy Ethan’s
reputation and force a sale.
“Who?”
Michael looked toward the windows.
“Franklin Webb.”
“Why?”
“He doesn’t own the operation.”
“Who does?”
“I never found out.”
Victoria shouted, “You disappeared for five years and never found out?”
“I disappeared because my brakes were cut.”
She went silent.
“The crash wasn’t fake,” Michael continued. “I survived. Franklin’s
people reached the hospital before family did. A nurse helped me leave.
I thought if they believed I died, Victoria and my daughter would be
safe.”
“You could have called,” Victoria whispered.
“They were watching you.”
“And now?”
“Now they’re watching Ethan.”
Michael looked at Lily sleeping on a sofa.
“And her.”
Ethan’s anger became something colder.
“Why Lily?”
“Because Sarah left something in her name.”
“What?”
“I don’t know.”
Ethan remembered the red ledger.
Sarah had prepared for this.
The next morning, Franklin Webb arrived voluntarily.
He wore a camel coat and carried a Christmas gift.
“For Lily,” he said.
Ethan didn’t take it.
“You’re accused of running North Star.”
Franklin smiled.
“By a dead man?”
Michael stepped into view.
Franklin’s smile disappeared.
“Surprise,” Michael said.
Franklin recovered quickly.
“You have no idea what you’re doing.”
“Then educate us.”
Franklin looked at Ethan.
“Sarah created a trust six months before she died.”
“I know about Lily’s trust.”
“No. You know about the education trust.”
Ethan felt the room tilt.
“There’s another?”
Franklin nodded.
“She placed thirty-one percent of Bellweather Hospitality into a
conditional trust.”
“For Lily?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“To prevent a hostile takeover.”
Michael whispered, “That’s why they need her.”
Franklin shook his head.
“No. That’s why they needed Sarah’s signature.”
“Needed?”
Franklin smiled faintly.
“Your wife discovered the attack early. She changed the company
structure. Upon Lily’s seventh birthday, those shares become voting
shares controlled by Lily’s legal guardian.”
Ethan stared at him.
Lily turned seven in nine days.
Christmas Eve.
Franklin continued.
“If Ethan becomes legally unfit, dies, or loses custody before then,
control passes to the alternate trustee.”
“Who?”
Franklin looked at Victoria.
She went pale.
“Not me.”
“No,” Franklin said.
May you like
He opened his briefcase and removed Sarah’s trust document.
“The alternate trustee is Caleb Mercer.”
