Chapter 3 - The Price of Loyalty
The following morning, the Sterling Estate felt like a house under military occupation. Vanessa had officially moved her things into the master suite, treating the property as if she already owned the deed. Her laughter echoed through the long stone corridors, an abrasive sound that grated on the nerves of the remaining loyal staff.
I sat back in my wheelchair, my gray blanket securely tucked around my legs, as the double doors of my bedroom opened. Vanessa strode in, wearing a sharp, emerald-green business suit, a gold pen and a stack of legal documents clutched in her manicured hand.
"Good morning, invalid," she said carelessly, tossing the documents onto my lap. "I brought you some light reading. It’s the executive proxy transfer we talked about last night. Uncle Martin and the legal team think it’s best if we wrap this up before the weekend."
I looked down at the papers, pretending my hands were shaking as I turned the first page. It was exactly as Daniel had described—a total, unconditional surrender of my corporate voting rights to my cousin Julian.
"Vanessa," I said, making my voice sound weak, hesitant. "This... this gives Julian total control over the Sterling trust. If I sign this, I am effectively removed from the company my father spent forty years building."
Vanessa sat on the edge of my bed, crossing her legs, looking down at me with an expression of supreme boredom. "Arthur, let’s be realistic. You are sitting in a chair, wrapped in wool, unable to control your own bladder for all I know. You don't belong in a boardroom anymore. You belong in a sanitarium or a quiet retirement community in Vermont."
She leaned closer, her voice dropping into a manipulative, purring whisper. "But if you sign this, I’ll make sure you get to stay here. I’ll stay with you. We’ll keep the engagement active for the press. You won't have to face the humiliation of being abandoned by the most beautiful woman in the city. Isn't that what you want? To keep your dignity?"
"My dignity," I echoed, letting a bitter laugh escape my lips. "Is that what you call this, Vanessa? A hostage situation?"
Her expression turned instantly cold. She stood up, her heels clicking violently against the hardwood. "Call it whatever you want, Arthur. But if these papers aren't signed by five o'clock tomorrow evening, I will walk out of those gates, and I will take every single major investor with me. I will tell the world that you are a broken, brain-damaged shell of a man who is actively running his father’s legacy into the ground. Let's see how much your precious company is worth then."
She stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind her.
A few moments later, the service door near the dressing room slid open quietly. Clara stepped into the room, holding a tray with a fresh pot of tea. She looked pale, her hands trembling slightly as she set the tray down on my side table.
"Sir," she whispered, leaning down as if to check on my blanket. "Miss Vanessa’s mother was downstairs in the conservatory. I heard her speaking with Mr. Daniel on the phone. They are planning to move the board meeting forward. They aren't waiting for Tuesday. They are calling an emergency session tonight at midnight, claiming you have suffered a sudden medical relapse."
I narrowed my eyes. "Tonight? They are moving faster than I anticipated. Martin must be desperate."
"There’s more," Clara said, her voice dropping lower. "Mr. Daniel was telling her that they’ve successfully transferred twenty million dollars out of the corporate logistics reserve into an offshore account in the Bahamas. They are setting it up to look like you authorized the transfer before your accident, to frame you for embezzlement if the takeover fails."
I let out a slow, dark whistle. "Embezzlement. They really have covered all the bases. They want me broken, broke, and behind bars if I ever manage to stand up."
I reached into the gray blanket, pulling out a small, high-tech flash drive my security chief had delivered through the service elevator an hour ago. I handed it to Clara.
"Clara, take this. In the basement archive, beneath the wine cellar, there is a secondary server terminal that bypasses the main house network. Plug this drive into the primary slot. It will initiate a full, unedited mirror download of Daniel’s corporate laptop and Martin’s private emails. Can you do this without being seen?"
"The security guards on the lower level are loyal to your uncle Martin now, sir," Clara said, her eyes wide but determined. "But there is an old laundry chute that exits directly into the server corridor. I used to use it to move linens when the elevators were serviced. I can slip down there unnoticed."
May you like
I took her hand, her small fingers warm against my palm. "If you are caught, Clara, they will ruin you. They will call the police and claim you are stealing from the estate."
"They’ve already ruined this house, Mr. Sterling," Clara replied, looking directly into my eyes with an intensity that shook me to my core. "I won't let them ruin you."
