Chapter 5 - THE BROTHER WHO HELPED DESTROY ME
We escaped through the lower platform and reached Reed’s car through a service entrance.
My hands still shook when we pulled away.
Julian called again.
I almost ignored him.
Reed shook his head.
“Answer.”
I did.
“You sent me into a trap.”
I said.
“No.”
Julian sounded breathless.
“I got you out of one.”
“You testified that I stole from our family foundation.”
“I know.”
“You told reporters I was unstable.”
“I know.”
“You let Dad destroy my life.”
His silence told me more than an apology could.
Then he whispered.
“I was twenty-four.”
“So?”
“I was terrified.”
“Congratulations.”
My voice hardened.
“I was nineteen.”
Julian swallowed audibly.
“Meet me.”
“No.”
“I have something Mom left.”
That stopped me.
“Where?”
“The old boathouse.”
Reed immediately shook his head.
I ignored him.
“Thirty minutes.”
The Ashford boathouse sat two miles from the estate.
Julian was already waiting when we arrived.
He looked older than he had at the gala.
Not physically.
Defeated.
“I didn’t know about the Meridian until after Mom died.”
He said.
“But you knew about the fake foundation theft.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Dad made me sign the statement.”
“You were an adult.”
“I know.”
“You could have refused.”
“He threatened to send Vanessa to prison.”
I stared at him.
“For what?”
“Vanessa had been moving money.”
“On whose orders?”
Julian laughed bitterly.
“Whose do you think?”
Arthur had used all of us.
One child as a scapegoat.
One as a weapon.
One as insurance.
Julian reached inside his coat.
Reed moved instantly.
“Slowly.”
Julian froze.
Then he produced a folded document.
“I found this in Mom’s safe after she died.”
It was a copy of her will.
A paragraph had been highlighted.
Upon my death, my controlling shares in Ashford Maritime Systems shall transfer equally to my three children.
I looked up.
“That never happened.”
“No.”
Julian said.
“Dad told us Mom left everything to him.”
“How much did she own?”
“Forty-one percent.”
My pulse jumped.
Combined with the shares Arthur had transferred to me years later through shell trusts without my knowledge, the number could change control of the company.
“Why show me now?”
Julian looked toward the river.
“Because yesterday Dad ordered legal counsel to move the company’s assets offshore.”
“He’s running.”
“No.”
Julian looked back at me.
“He’s preparing to burn the company down before you can take it.”
Then Reed’s phone rang.
He listened for ten seconds.
His face changed.
“What happened?”
I asked.
He ended the call.
“Margaret Hale is alive.”
Relief hit me.
Then he added.
“But she told investigators something else.”
“What?”
May you like
Reed looked directly at Julian.
“She said your mother’s death wasn’t natural.”
