Chapter 17 - Twenty-Four Percent
Twenty-four percent changed everything.
At current private-market valuation, the stolen stake was worth billions.
More importantly, it meant Leonard's fraud had influenced every major control vote in my company's history.
Helen stared at the agreement.
"If this is authentic, the Bennett estate may have a claim larger than anything Eleanor drafted."
Grace shook her head immediately.
"I don't want Adrienne's company."
"It's not about what you want," Helen said gently. "It's about what Caleb legally owned."
I looked at Grace.
"If he saved the company, then part of it was his. I won't fight you for what was stolen."
Grace's eyes filled.
"Adrienne, you built this."
"And apparently he helped me build it."
"We found Leonard."
The same property had once housed the charity office my father mentioned on Caleb's tape.
Police obtained a warrant.
I did not.
I stayed outside the perimeter with Grace and Helen while investigators searched the building.
Inside was a banker box filled with original ledgers.
"You were right about the charity," he said.
"And Leonard?"
"Gone before we entered. But he left something behind."
It was a medical invoice from the week my father died.
A private cardiology consultant had been paid by Sterling Meridian.
The consultant's notes included my father's medication list.
Eleanor's face flashed in my mind.
"Detective..."
"We see it."
"Are you saying they did this to my father?"
"I'm saying we're reopening questions about his death."
Vanessa.
From jail.
Then I answered.
"Adrienne, my father is going to hurt someone else."
"Where is he?"
"I don't know."
"Then why call me?"
She began to cry.
"Because there is one person he blames more than Caleb, more than Eleanor, even more than you."
I looked at Grace.
May you like
Vanessa whispered the name.
"Marcus."
