Chapter 4: The Father Who Could Not Sign
No one spoke until Julian called Vanessa’s name again.
She lunged for the phone.
Naomi moved it beyond her reach.
“Julian,” Adrian said, “this is Adrian Brooks.”
The line went silent.
Then Julian laughed.
“You should ask who really paid for your empire.”
He ended the call before Adrian could answer.
Vanessa straightened her dress.
“You heard him.
Parallel exists because of my family.”
“Your father invested in an idea,” Adrian said.
“He received shares in return.”
“He used money that belonged to me.”
“That isn’t what Daniel told me.”
“Of course not.
He treated you like the child he wished he had.”
Adrian’s glass slipped from his hand and struck the carpet without breaking.
Marcus rose, but Adrian lifted one palm.
“Don’t,” Adrian said.
Vanessa gave him a cold smile.
“Does that still hurt?
My father believed in a penniless stranger more than his own daughter.”
The conference-room door opened.
An elderly woman in a navy dress stood beside a young hotel waiter.
“Because the stranger never lied to him,” she said.
Vanessa’s face drained of color.
“Mother?”
Celeste Cole entered slowly, leaning on a silver-handled cane.
The waiter carried a large cream envelope.
“Mrs.
Cole asked me to bring her directly here,” he said.
“She said it could not wait.”
Adrian pulled out a chair.
“Celeste, you shouldn’t have come alone.”
“I didn’t.” She touched the waiter’s arm.
“Samuel found me near the wrong ballroom and stayed with me until I found you.”
Samuel placed the envelope before Adrian.
“Mrs.
Cole had this locked in the hotel safe.”
Vanessa moved toward it.
“That belongs to our family.”
Celeste blocked her with the cane.
“Then you should have respected the name written on it.”
“Mother, you don’t understand what Adrian did.”
“I understand what you did.” Celeste looked at Marcus.
“Has she told you she borrowed seventy thousand dollars against my home?”
Marcus stared at Vanessa.
“You said that money came from selling your apartment.”
“She signed my name,” Celeste said.
“That was temporary,” Vanessa snapped.
“Julian was going to repay it.”
Adrian lowered himself into the chair.
“Why didn’t you call me?”
“Daniel made me promise to give you the chance to succeed without feeling indebted.” Celeste pushed the envelope toward him.
“I kept that promise too long.”
Vanessa’s hand began shaking.
“There is nothing in there that changes this contract.”
Naomi opened the envelope.
Inside were three documents and a small digital recorder.
“The original investment agreement,” she said.
“A letter from Daniel, and an audio file.”
Celeste pressed the recorder’s button.
Daniel’s voice filled the room.
“Adrian, if you are hearing this, someone has questioned why I invested.
The money was mine.
Vanessa’s inheritance remains untouched in a separate trust.
I invested because your design can save small manufacturers from closing.
Do not let my children rewrite that truth.”
Vanessa knocked the recorder from the table.
“You turned him against us!” she cried.
Adrian caught it before it struck the floor.
“He recorded that because he was afraid you would do exactly this.”
Celeste’s eyes filled.
“Your father loved you, Vanessa.
But he stopped trusting you.”
“Because Adrian poisoned him!”
“No,” Celeste said.
“Because you forged Daniel’s signature once before.”
Marcus stepped back.
“Once before?”
Celeste removed another paper from the envelope.
“Four years ago, Vanessa tried to transfer Adrian’s shares to Julian.”
Vanessa turned toward the door.
Two corporate security officers were already standing there.
Naomi’s phone vibrated.
She read the message and looked at Adrian.
“The board has called an emergency meeting,” she said.
“Vanessa filed a complaint this morning accusing you of taking the original investment illegally.”
Adrian stared at her.
“Before the gala?”
May you like
Naomi nodded.
“She expected that contract to be approved tonight—and you to be suspended tomorrow.”
