Chapter 7 - THE BLOODLINE CLAUSE
Rebecca spent the afternoon inside a conference room at Cole Meridian with three trust attorneys and a forensic accountant.
By evening, she called Nathan and Grace in.
“The bloodline clause is real,” she said.
Nathan stared at the old trust document on the screen.
His grandfather had written it after Charles tried to consolidate family assets. Any biological child of Nathan’s automatically received an irrevocable share of voting stock, whether Charles approved or not.
“How much?” Grace asked.
“Thirty-one percent.”
If Nathan married Victoria before Lily was legally acknowledged, their merger agreement would shift enough voting power to give Victoria practical control.
Rebecca tapped the screen.
“If Lily is recognized first, the merger collapses automatically.”
Grace looked sick. “So she wanted Lily erased before the wedding.”
“Or legally discredited,” Rebecca said.
Nathan stared at the document.
“My father negotiated the Dane merger.”
“Yes.”
“He knew about Lily.”
“Yes.”
“And he knew the merger would fail if she came forward.”
Rebecca nodded.
Nathan pushed away from the table.
Everything he inherited suddenly felt contaminated.
His father’s company. His house. His engagement. Even the future he thought he had chosen.
Grace touched the edge of the trust document.
“There’s something I never told you.”
Nathan looked at her.
“Your father contacted me again two years after Lily was born.”
“Why?”
“He said he had changed his mind.”
Nathan laughed bitterly. “Charles Cole never changed his mind.”
“I know. That’s why I didn’t believe him.”
“What did he want?”
“He wanted Lily’s DNA.”
Grace reached into her bag and pulled out a folded lab receipt.
“I sent a sample to a private clinic under a false name. The results disappeared before I could pick them up.”
Rebecca read the clinic name and cursed.
The lab had been acquired six months later.
By Dane Capital.
Then Nathan’s phone rang.
Unknown number.
He answered.
A man’s voice said, “If you want to know what your father did with the DNA, come alone.”
May you like
Nathan recognized the voice.
Martin Vale.
