Chapter 10 - The Will My Father Destroyed
My mother had left me an inheritance I never knew existed.
Not money.
Not jewelry.
Not another mansion filled with things I didn't need.
She'd left me a choice.
Gabriel placed the recovered will on my hospital bedside table.
I read it slowly.
Margaret Vale had owned a substantial share of the family's legitimate shipping business through assets inherited from her parents.
She'd instructed the trustees to preserve those interests for me until I turned twenty-five.
But there was a condition.
I had to demonstrate that I was no longer participating in the criminal operations controlled by Vincent Vale.
If I refused, the assets would be redirected into a charitable trust supporting workers harmed by the family's businesses.
I stared at the document.
My father had never mentioned it.
Dominic had never mentioned it.
And every attorney connected to my father's estate had assured me Margaret left nothing.
"Why?" I whispered.
Nora stood beside my bed.
"Because your father wanted you to inherit his empire instead."
I looked up.
She was right.
If I'd known my mother offered another future, I might have chosen it.
Instead, I'd spent twenty-three years becoming the man Vincent wanted.
Then I noticed the final clause.
The trust's independent administrator was listed as Evelyn Reed.
Nora's grandmother.
I slowly looked toward her.
"Evelyn controlled the trust?"
Nora nodded.
"Grandma said she spent years trying to protect something that belonged to you."
I covered my face.
Every expensive meal I'd rejected suddenly seemed less important.
The real sickness in my life wasn't only the substance someone had administered.
It was the world I'd allowed myself to inherit.
Gabriel entered with another update.
Investigators had located Rebecca Reed at a private residence outside Milwaukee.
She'd agreed to an interview through an attorney.
Nora immediately stood.
"I want to talk to her."
Gabriel shook his head.
"That needs to be arranged safely."
Nora turned toward me.
"Arthur, she's my aunt."
"I know."
"She knows what happened to Grandma."
I took a breath.
"Then we'll let the investigators do their work, and you can decide whether you want to speak with her afterward."
Nora looked surprised.
"You aren't going to order someone to bring her here?"
"No."
I paused.
"I'm trying to learn a different way."
For the first time, she smiled.
Later that evening, Rebecca gave investigators a statement.
She admitted helping Dominic conceal financial transfers and deliver unprescribed substances into my household.
But she insisted she hadn't known what the substance would do to me.
Then she revealed the most shocking part of the entire conspiracy.
Dominic hadn't intended to kill me quickly.
He'd wanted me weak.
Dependent.
Unable to manage my businesses.
And eventually willing to sign away control of the Vale estate.
But Rebecca said Dominic wasn't the original architect of the plan.
Someone else had recruited him years earlier.
Someone who knew exactly how to destroy Arthur Vale.
Then she whispered the name.
Eleanor Vale.
May you like
My younger sister.
The woman I'd believed had died fifteen years ago.
