Chapter 2 - THE SON HIS FATHER NEVER HEARD
Emily nearly dropped the coffee pot.
“My grandmother is very much alive.”
Noah looked toward Richard.
For the first time that morning, something close to suspicion replaced the embarrassment in his eyes.
Richard stood.
“We're leaving.”
Noah didn't move.
His father snapped his fingers.
It was small.
Casual.
And somehow more insulting than everything he'd said before.
Noah's jaw tightened.
Emily saw it.
So did two of the executives.
“Mr. Whitmore,” Emily said quietly, “he can see you.”
Richard turned.
“Excuse me?”
“You don't need to snap your fingers.”
The silence that followed could have broken glass.
Richard stared at her name tag again.
“You're a waitress, Miss Carter. I recommend remembering that.”
Emily's fingers tightened around her tray.
Noah stepped between them.
His hands moved.
Enough.
Richard ignored him.
That seemed to hurt Noah more than the insult.
Then Noah opened the notes app on his phone and typed.
I AM STAYING.
Richard laughed once.
“You don't even know this woman.”
Noah typed again.
APPARENTLY I KNOW MORE ABOUT HER FAMILY THAN SHE DOES.
That stopped Richard.
Only for a second.
But Emily saw it.
Fear.
Not anger.
Fear.
Richard collected his coat.
“We have a board meeting in forty minutes.”
Noah lifted one finger.
Then he typed:
MY BOARD MEETING.
Richard's face hardened.
“We'll discuss this in the car.”
He left with three executives.
One remained behind.
A gray-haired man named Thomas Blake.
He looked at Noah carefully.
“Your father hasn't told you, has he?”
Noah frowned.
Thomas glanced at Emily.
“This is family business.”
Emily immediately stepped away.
Noah caught her attention and signed.
Please stay.
Thomas exhaled.
“Today is Noah's twenty-eighth birthday.”
Emily gave Noah a confused smile.
“Happy birthday.”
He smiled back.
Thomas didn't.
“Under the trust established by Noah's mother, certain Whitmore voting shares transfer to Noah today.”
Noah's expression changed.
Apparently he hadn't known that either.
Thomas lowered his voice.
“Your father was supposed to tell you six months ago.”
Noah grabbed his phone.
HOW MANY SHARES?
Thomas hesitated.
“Enough to change who controls the company.”
The café suddenly felt too small.
Emily looked through the glass wall.
Richard stood outside beside a black sedan, talking furiously on his phone.
Then Thomas said something even stranger.
“Rose Carter witnessed the original trust.”
Emily stared at him.
“My grandmother?”
Thomas nodded.
“Twenty-two years ago.”
Noah's face went pale.
And when Thomas revealed why Rose had disappeared from the Whitmore company, Emily finally understood why Richard had lied about her grandmother being dead.
May you like
Rose hadn't quit.
Richard Whitmore had fired her the morning after she discovered someone had altered Noah's inheritance.
