Chapter 13 - The Frozen Account
By sunrise the next morning, Victoria’s hollow threat materialized into a legal assault. I was at my desk when Marcus Reed, our lead corporate counsel, burst into the office with a thick crimson folder under his arm.
"Sarah, we have a complication," Marcus said, placing the documents on the desk. "Julian’s attorneys just filed an emergency motion in the Third District Probate Court. They aren’t disputing the terminal’s operational ownership anymore. They're going after the primary trust account."
"On what grounds?" I demanded, scanning the dense legalese.
"A supplemental family trust formed in 1998," Marcus replied gravely. "Julian claims your father signed an amendment stipulating that any child born out of wedlock, or any grandchild without verified paternal registry in the county archives, forfeits their hereditary dividend. They are challenging Leo’s legal status as an heir."
The pen in my hand snapped in half.
David, who was standing by the window reviewing dispatch schedules, whipped his head around, his knuckles turning white against the sill. "They’re dragging Leo into this?"
"They want to freeze our operating liquidity by tying Leo's trust in probate," I said, my voice dropping to a dangerous whisper. "Julian knows our supply chain relies on that operating capital to clear fuel contracts next Tuesday. If the account is frozen for even seven days, our fleet stalls, our clients default, and the vultures step in to buy our routes at pennies on the dollar."
"Can they actually freeze it?" David asked, stepping beside me, his protective warmth an immediate fortress against the rage threatening to cloud my mind.
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"Only if the judge grants a temporary ex-parte injunction before we respond," Marcus said. "We have four hours before Judge Holloway convenes the emergency chamber hearing."
I stood up, smoothing the front of my charcoal pencil skirt, my eyes burning with lethal clarity. "Marcus, prepare my father’s original, notarized diaries from the safety deposit box at First Tennessee Bank. Julian wants to dig into bloodlines? Then let’s show the court whose blood actually built this foundation."
