Chapter 13 - NINE O’CLOCK
At six the next morning, an anonymous complaint arrived at the hotel.
It claimed I had intimidated Emma and forced her child to support allegations against my family.
The writer attached a photograph of Lily sitting beside me on the bed.
I stared at it.
Someone had taken the picture from my bedroom doorway before Lily ever noticed them.
Emma read the complaint with a hotel manager present.
Her face went white, then hard.
“They’re using my daughter.”
“I’ll have Elaine handle it.”
“I’ll answer for myself.”
She wrote a clear statement: Lily had entered my room without permission; I had returned her safely; no one had asked her to accuse anybody; Emma had chosen to move after learning of unauthorized access.
Her lawyer, arranged at my expense but selected by her, submitted it with the relevant security records.
Lily stayed upstairs with her cousin, eating toast.
She never heard the accusation.
Frank examined the photograph’s original attachment metadata.
It pointed back to a device registered to Vivian.
He preserved the file without promising that metadata alone settled who had taken it.
At 7:15, Daniel arrived at Elaine’s office.
I almost sent him away.
Then he placed his old incident notebook on the table.
“I wrote down the hospital handover,” he said. “I should have brought this sooner.”
The entry recorded Vivian receiving my laptop and phone while I was in surgery.
Beside it was a text she had sent him later.
Thank you. Family matters stay inside the family.
“Why keep it?” I asked.
“Because part of me knew.”
I looked at him for a long time.
“You’re giving this to investigators.”
“I already arranged to.”
It didn’t restore my trust.
It did give the email a stronger chain of evidence.
At eight, Martin confirmed that the directors had received Elaine’s challenge to the proxy.
The asset sale would not proceed without review of the conflict and original agreement.
Vivian demanded the meeting continue anyway.
“Let it,” I said.
I put on a plain dark suit.
My hands shook while I fastened the cuffs.
At headquarters, Frank walked beside me.
The doors opened with my credential.
Inside the boardroom, Nicholas sat in my chair.
Vivian stood behind him, wearing our mother’s silver bird.
“You look tired,” she said.
“I am.”
She smiled.
May you like
I set my folder on the table.
“But today I know why.”
