Chapter 6: The Mother Who Chose the Truth
Dr.
Vale pushed back his chair.
“I have never seen that child.”
Amara hid behind Fatima’s skirt.
“You said I was a problem.”
Genevieve stepped between the doctor and the board.
“She is three.
She could be pointing at anyone.”
Fatima took out her phone.
“Then you will not mind hearing this.”
She pressed the screen.
Dr.
Vale’s voice came through the speaker.
Find the lamb.
If the child talks again, Silvio wants the mother removed before morning.
Dr.
Vale knocked the phone from her hand.
Dante caught it before it reached the floor.
“That recording is fabricated,” the doctor said.
Dante locked the screen and slipped the phone into his jacket.
“You can explain that to an independent investigator.”
“No one is calling anyone,” Silvio said.
“Estate security answers to the board.”
A woman at the back of the library rose slowly.
Celeste Ashworth, Genevieve’s mother, placed her untouched drink on a shelf.
“Not all of them.”
Genevieve stared at her.
“Mother, sit down.”
Celeste crossed the room and stood beside Fatima.
“I saw Dr.
Vale enter the western corridor.
I also saw Genevieve hand him a keycard.”
“You saw nothing,” Genevieve said.
“I have spent thirty-two years pretending not to see what this family does.”
Celeste opened her handbag and removed a sealed envelope.
Genevieve’s voice dropped.
“Where did you get that?”
“From your father’s safe.”
Inside were copies of the legacy trust, medical forms, and a private agreement.
Dante placed them in front of the board attorney.
Celeste tapped the final page.
“Genevieve receives twelve percent of Rienzi Logistics when Alessandro is declared incapable.
Silvio receives executive control.”
Silvio stood.
“Those are privileged drafts.”
“They are evidence of fraud,” the attorney said.
Genevieve seized her mother’s wrist.
“You bitter, lonely woman.
Father left you nothing because he knew you were weak.”
Celeste freed her hand.
“Your father left me a key because he believed I would remain frightened.”
“You will lose your home.”
“I packed before I came.”
“You will lose me.”
Celeste’s eyes filled, but her voice did not shake.
“I lost you the day you learned that love was something to counterfeit.”
Genevieve’s hand rose, then stopped when Alessandro stepped between them.
“Touch her, and this room becomes the least of your problems.”
Genevieve laughed once.
“You have no authority here.”
Alessandro looked at the five board members who had voted against him.
“Perhaps not.”
Celeste faced the board attorney.
“Ask who notarized the trust.”
The attorney examined the seal.
“Walter Ashworth.”
“My husband has been in London for six weeks,” Celeste said.
“This document was notarized yesterday.”
Silvio reached for the papers, but the board member beside him closed the folder.
“No.”
Silvio glared at him.
“You work for me.”
“I work for the company.”
For one second, Alessandro’s shoulders lowered.
Fatima touched his sleeve.
“Do not trust the relief yet,” she whispered.
The lights went out.
A chair overturned.
Someone ran toward the French doors, and glass broke in the darkness.
“Amara!” Fatima screamed.
Emergency lights flickered red along the walls.
May you like
Fatima stood alone beside an open door.
Her daughter was gone.
