Chapter 5 - The Child Worth Billions
Sarah thought she had misunderstood.
“Leo owns part of your company?”
“Not yet.”
Julian pulled a chair closer.
“But he may have inherited voting shares the moment he was born.”
Sarah laughed once from sheer disbelief.
“My son takes peanut butter sandwiches to school because deli meat costs too much.”
“I know.”
“He wore shoes with cardboard inside them last winter.”
Julian lowered his eyes.
“I know that too.”
“And now you’re telling me he may own millions of dollars?”
Julian looked at Leo.
“Possibly much more.”
Sarah’s anger returned instantly.
“Then where was everyone?”
Nobody answered.
Leo watched the adults carefully.
Sarah softened her voice.
“Sweetheart, go with Mr. Bennett for a minute.”
Leo frowned.
“I want to stay.”
“Please.”
He reluctantly followed the elderly neighbor.
The moment the door closed, Sarah faced Julian.
“Tell me everything.”
Julian explained that his father, Alexander Vance, had created a family trust before dying nine years earlier.
Any biological grandchild would automatically receive shares at birth.
Those shares came from a protected block that could not be sold or transferred by another family member.
The trust had one requirement.
The child’s existence had to be formally documented.
“If someone knew I was pregnant and kept Leo’s records from the trustee…”
Sarah stopped.
Julian nodded.
“Then they effectively erased him.”
“Who benefited?”
Julian did not answer immediately.
Sarah understood anyway.
“Victoria.”
“Her family’s merger with Vance Capital would have given her voting influence over shares that should have belonged to Leo.”
Sarah stared at the ruined apartment.
This was no longer about jealousy.
It was about money.
Control.
Possibly billions.
Marcus’s phone rang.
He answered and listened.
Then his face darkened.
“We found Eric Dalton.”
Julian stood.
“Where?”
“Parking garage near the river.”
“Bring him in.”
Marcus hesitated.
“He cannot talk.”
Sarah’s stomach dropped.
“Why?”
“He was in a car accident.”
Sarah gripped the table.
“Is he alive?”
“Yes.”
“But?”
Marcus looked at Julian.
“Someone hit his vehicle and took the metal box before police arrived.”
Julian closed his eyes.
Whoever was behind this had moved quickly.
Too quickly.
Marcus continued.
“There is one more thing.”
He placed a photograph on the table.
It showed Dalton entering Sarah’s building earlier that evening.
A timestamp ran along the bottom.
But another camera had captured him before that.
He had been standing outside the Sterling Grand Hotel.
Speaking to someone through the rear window of a limousine.
The passenger’s face was visible.
May you like
Sarah expected Victoria.
Instead, she found herself looking at Conrad Sterling.
