Chapter 2 - THE SHARES HE NEVER KNEW ABOUT
Three days later, Julian's attorney called.
He wasn't angry.
He was terrified.
“Mrs. Sterling, we need to discuss the voting structure.”
“I already know the structure.”
“No. I don't think you understand.”
“I understand perfectly.”
The attorney paused.
“Your late father's trust currently controls fifty-one percent of Sterling Meridian's voting shares.”
I smiled.
“Exactly.”
Julian had spent years telling people he owned the company.
He didn't.
His father had founded Sterling Meridian, but when my father invested during its worst financial crisis, he negotiated a controlling interest.
When my father died, the shares passed into a trust.
The beneficiary was me.
But the trust agreement contained one condition.
I couldn't exercise control until Julian attempted to remove me from the company through fraud or coercion.
My father had known Julian better than I did.
Perhaps he had seen something I refused to see.
That afternoon, I entered the conference room.
Julian was already there.
So was Margaret.
Victoria sat beside them.
She looked exhausted.
The twins were nowhere in sight.
Julian stood.
“Elena, let's talk privately.”
“No.”
Margaret frowned.
“This is a family matter.”
“No.”
I placed a folder on the table.
“This is now a corporate matter.”
Julian opened it.
Inside were copies of the trust agreement.
His face drained of color.
“You can't activate this.”
“I already did.”
Margaret slammed her hand down.
“My family built this company!”
“My father saved it.”
“He was an outsider.”
“He was the reason your son inherited anything.”
Julian stared at the documents.
“You planned this.”
“I prepared for the possibility that you'd betray me.”
Victoria suddenly spoke.
“Julian, you said she didn't own controlling shares.”
He looked at her.
“I believed she didn't.”
Victoria's face hardened.
“You lied to me too.”
Julian ignored her.
“Elena, what do you want?”
I looked directly at him.
“The truth.”
He laughed bitterly.
“You're threatening me?”
“No.”
I leaned forward.
“I'm offering you one chance.”
“Chance for what?”
“Tell me who the twins' biological father is.”
Julian said nothing.
Margaret looked away.
That reaction told me everything.
I opened another folder.
“Because I already know.”
Julian froze.
“The fertility clinic was hacked three weeks ago.”
His eyes widened.
“You know about that?”
“I know someone inside Sterling Meridian paid for access.”
Victoria stood.
“You said no one would find out.”
The room went silent.
Julian slowly turned toward her.
“What did you just say?”
Victoria realized her mistake.
I didn't move.
Margaret closed her eyes.
Julian whispered:
“Victoria…”
She looked terrified.
“I was told it was necessary.”
“Who told you?”
She didn't answer.
I opened my laptop.
A bank transfer appeared on the screen.
A payment from a Sterling Meridian subsidiary.
The recipient was a private fertility clinic.
The payment date was eleven months before the twins were born.
Julian stared at it.
“Who ordered this?”
I looked at Margaret.
She didn't blink.
And I knew.
May you like
The affair was only the surface.
Someone had been planning the birth of those children long before Victoria ever entered my home.
