Chapter 6 - ARTHUR FINALLY OPENED HIS EYES
Arthur did something he should have done years earlier.
He questioned his mother.
The conversation lasted eleven minutes.
I know because he sent me the recording.
At first, Victoria sounded almost amused.
"You abandoned your wife, signed away control of your children, and now you've suddenly discovered morality?"
Arthur ignored the insult.
"What is Carter Legacy?"
"A foundation."
"Using Emma's father's name?"
"It honors an old business partner."
"Why does it receive money from our companies?"
"Tax planning."
"Why does Vanessa's medical release name it?"
Silence.
For the first time, Victoria hesitated.
Then she became cold.
"Arthur, stop asking questions you are not equipped to understand."
The recording ended with a crash.
According to Arthur, Victoria had thrown his phone against the wall.
He sent me a second message afterward.
I WAS AN IDIOT.
I stared at the words.
For years I'd wanted him to admit that.
Now it gave me almost no satisfaction.
Thomas listened to the recording beside me.
"She's nervous."
"Good."
"No, Emma."
He looked concerned.
"Nervous people make mistakes. Powerful nervous people make dangerous ones."
That afternoon, Thomas took me to the Barcelona offices of Atlantic Meridian.
I expected hostility.
Instead, executives stood when I entered.
Some looked uncomfortable.
Others looked relieved.
The oldest man in the room approached me slowly.
"My name is Javier Morales."
"I know."
His name had been on the board documents.
He shook my hand.
"I worked for your father."
Then he looked at Leo and Chloe standing beside me.
His expression softened.
"Richard would have liked this."
During the meeting, Thomas formally presented the court order recognizing my disputed ownership rights pending final adjudication.
Victoria's lawyers had forty-eight hours to respond.
If they couldn't prove my father sold his shares legally, control of several European assets would immediately shift.
Including the Barcelona logistics hub.
Afterward, Javier asked me to stay.
He closed the conference-room door.
"Your father visited me four days before he entered the hospital."
My heart began to pound.
"What did he say?"
"He gave me something."
Javier opened an old safe.
From inside, he removed a tiny digital recorder.
"He told me never to give it to a Vance."
My mouth went dry.
"What's on it?"
Javier placed it in my palm.
"His final meeting with Victoria."
I pressed play.
Static crackled.
Then my father's voice filled the room.
You forged my signature.
Victoria answered.
Prove it.
My father said something else.
May you like
Something that made Thomas turn pale.
I already did. And Emma has the original.
