Chapter 2 - AFTER ARTHUR IS GONE
Maria waited until Lucas was asleep before she showed Arthur the envelope.
He had moved his son into the guest suite at the opposite end of the mansion and instructed two security guards to remain outside the door.
Elena had locked herself in the primary bedroom.
Arthur stood in his study at one in the morning, still wearing the shirt from his flight.
“Is there anything else?” he asked.
Maria hesitated.
“Yes.”
Arthur looked up.
She pulled the envelope from her cardigan pocket.
His eyes narrowed when he read the words.
AFTER ARTHUR IS GONE.
“Where did this come from?”
“Under the documents.”
Arthur opened it.
Inside were three typed pages.
The first was an insurance statement.
The second was a revised corporate succession chart.
The third made Arthur grip the edge of his desk.
In the event of Arthur Vance’s death or permanent incapacity, Elena Vance would temporarily receive voting control over Arthur’s private shares until Lucas turned twenty-five.
“That isn’t valid,” Arthur whispered.
Maria said nothing.
He read further.
The document appointed Elena guardian of Lucas’s financial interests.
Arthur gave a bitter laugh.
“I never signed this.”
“Your name is at the bottom.”
“I can see that.”
He threw it down.
Maria had worked for the Vance family for eighteen months. She had seen Arthur angry over business deals worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
She had never seen him frightened.
Until now.
“Mr. Vance…”
“Arthur.”
She blinked.
“What?”
“Tonight, call me Arthur. You just stopped someone from stealing my son’s future.”
Maria looked toward the closed study door.
“I’m not sure I stopped anything.”
Arthur followed her gaze.
“What do you mean?”
“Elena knew exactly where those papers were.”
“Yes.”
“She wasn’t surprised when I found them.”
Arthur went still.
“She was angry.”
Maria nodded.
“Like someone who thought everything was already arranged.”
Arthur picked up his phone.
“I’m calling my attorney.”
“Wait.”
He looked at her.
“If she’s been planning this for months, she may know exactly who you’re going to call.”
Arthur frowned.
“My attorney has worked for me for fourteen years.”
“I’m not accusing him.”
“But?”
Maria took a breath.
“I saw Elena meeting someone three nights ago.”
“Who?”
“I didn’t know then.”
“And now?”
Maria pointed to the succession document.
At the bottom was the name of the law firm that had drafted it.
Hale, Mercer & Stone.
Arthur stared at the name.
“My personal attorney works there.”
“Daniel Mercer?”
Arthur’s eyes rose.
“How do you know that?”
“Because Daniel Mercer was the man sitting in Elena’s car.”
The room went silent.
Arthur slowly lowered his phone.
“What time?”
“A little after midnight.”
“Where?”
“Near the service entrance.”
“What were they doing?”
“Talking.”
“How long?”
“Maybe twenty minutes.”
“Did they see you?”
“I don’t think so.”
Arthur walked toward the window.
His reflection looked older than it had that morning.
Daniel Mercer had stood beside Arthur at Rachel’s funeral.
He had helped establish Lucas’s trust.
He knew exactly how the documents were structured.
Exactly which safeguards existed.
And exactly how to get around them.
Arthur turned around.
“Maria, tomorrow morning you are not taking Lucas to school.”
“I wasn’t planning to.”
“You’re staying with him.”
“Yes.”
“No one enters his room without me.”
“Understood.”
Arthur gathered the documents.
“I’m going to bring in an outside forensic accountant.”
Maria nodded.
He started toward the door.
Then stopped.
“What did Elena say before I came inside?”
Maria’s face changed.
“She told me I had no idea who I was challenging.”
“Anything else?”
Maria looked him directly in the eyes.
“She said by Monday, none of this would matter.”
Arthur glanced at the clock.
Saturday.
“What happens Monday?”
“I don’t know.”
Arthur opened his laptop.
He logged into Lucas’s trust administration portal.
The balance appeared.
$47,382,116.
He clicked “Pending Transactions.”
Nothing.
Then he opened “Scheduled Activity.”
Arthur stopped.
Maria leaned closer.
One transfer was waiting.
Twenty-eight million dollars.
Scheduled for Monday.
8:00 a.m.
Arthur stared at the screen.
Someone had already approved it.
May you like
And beside the authorization was a digital security code that belonged to only one person in the entire company.
Arthur himself.
