Chapter 6 - THE COMPANY THEY THOUGHT WAS GONE
Bennett Development had been my father's life.
Commercial land.
Warehouses.
Distribution centers.
He sold most of his stake after my mother died.
But the company still existed.
And in recent years, a private equity group had been buying shares.
Rachel traced the current ownership.
Forty-eight percent belonged to a holding group controlled by Marcus.
Forty-six percent belonged to outside investors.
The remaining six percent belonged to Lily's trust.
My daughter held the tie-breaking vote.
My father had known.
I had not.
Rachel explained why.
My mother had structured Lily's shares so they could not be sold before Lily turned twenty-five.
But the guardian could vote them in certain corporate matters.
If I had been declared unfit and Dad became interim guardian, he could control that vote.
He could hand the company to Marcus.
Nora leaned back.
"So the trust wasn't just money."
"It was leverage," Rachel said.
I felt stupid.
"Where does Elaine fit?"
Rachel searched corporate records.
Elaine's consulting company had received payments from Marcus's holding group.
Nearly nine hundred thousand dollars over four years.
"And Victoria?"
No payments.
At least none we found.
Then Nora recovered a deleted email from my father's old laptop.
TO: MARCUS.
SUBJECT: DECEMBER.
Liam will come back hard if the girl is crying. Keep your hands clean until he crosses the doorway. Once he touches you, we have enough.
Marcus replied:
What if he doesn't?
Dad answered:
Then Victoria escalates.
My hands went cold.
"Escalates how?"
Nora opened the attachment.
PARTY SEQUENCE B.
If I did not react strongly enough, Victoria was supposed to pretend Lily had fallen down the stairs while trying to escape me.
The next line made me stand up.
MARK BRUISE BEFORE LIAM ARRIVES.
When we returned, Nora had found one more file.
A photograph of Lily's left arm taken before the party.
There was already a bruise.
May you like
And written beneath the image:
GOOD ENOUGH.
