Chapter 9 - MY SON'S NAME
Liam Jr. was not Lily's full brother.
His mother was my first wife, Claire, who died when he was nine and Lily was still a toddler.
After Claire died, I tried to keep both kids close.
I failed more often than I admitted.
When I remarried Victoria, Liam Jr. never trusted her.
He was ten when the Christmas party happened.
He had been upstairs playing video games during most of it.
Or so I thought.
I sat across from him in our kitchen.
"Did Grandpa ever talk to you about Bennett Development?"
He frowned.
"Sometimes."
"What did he say?"
"That it should stay in the family."
"Anything about Lily's trust?"
He looked uncomfortable.
"Once."
My chest tightened.
"What?"
"He said Lily couldn't run a company because she was a little kid."
"What else?"
"He said when I got older, maybe I could vote her shares for her."
I closed my eyes.
My father had been recruiting my son.
"Did he ask you to do anything?"
"No."
"Think."
Liam Jr. looked toward the window.
"The night of the party, he told me to stay upstairs."
"Why?"
"He said you were going to get angry and adults needed to handle it."
"Did you hear Lily?"
His eyes filled.
"Yes."
"Why didn't you come down?"
"Because Grandpa locked my door."
I went completely still.
"What?"
"He said it was for safety."
For six years my son had carried that.
I had been so focused on Lily that I never asked where he was during the worst twenty minutes of our lives.
"I'm sorry."
"Dad—"
"No. I'm sorry."
He looked away.
Then he said, "I found something else in the travel bag."
He went upstairs and returned with a small brass key.
It had been taped beneath the bag's lining.
A number was engraved on it.
418.
Rachel traced it to a safe-deposit box in my father's name.
The bank opened it under the estate order.
Inside were corporate papers.
My mother's original Bennett Development shares.
And a handwritten codicil to her will.
The six percent voting block was not meant only for Lily.
It was meant for both children.
Lily held the shares.
But once Liam Jr. turned eighteen, major votes required consent from both siblings.
My father's entire plan had another problem.
He needed control of my son too.
May you like
And according to a note in the box, he had already chosen how.
BOARDING SCHOOL — AGE 17.
