Chapter 10 - Blood and Ledger
I didn't touch the champagne. I pulled the high-backed chair out and sat down, staring directly into the eyes of the man who had haunted my family’s history.
"You look older than I remembered, Cross," I remarked dryly. "The grave didn't suit you."
Cross laughed softly, cutting a piece of rare wagyu beef on his porcelain plate. "A near-death experience has a way of clarifying one's purpose, Claire. Your father thought he destroyed me. He stole Zenith from my hands, framed me for illegal arms dealing, and cast me into the sea. But I survived. And I built an empire in the shadows that dwarfed his pathetic public corporation."
"You built an empire on blackmail, extortion, and parasitic theft," I countered. "You used my weak, pathetic husband because you were too cowardly to face me directly."
"Ethan was a useful tool," Cross dismissed with a wave of his fork. "He allowed me to penetrate your firewall and secure the one thing your father hid from the world."
Cross reached into his suit jacket and pulled out a yellowed, fragile document encased in a protective acrylic sleeve. He slid it across the marble table toward me.
"Do you know what that is, Claire?"
I looked down at the document. It was a handwritten contract dated twenty-four years ago, signed with my father’s unmistakable signature and sealed with the original red wax seal of the Sterling-Cross Partnership.
"It is the original founding covenant of Zenith," Cross said, his eyes glittering with triumphant malice. "Clause 44, Subsection B. Your father pledged fifty-one percent of the total equity of Zenith to me, unconditionally, upon the event of his death or retirement. He forged the corporate registry after my 'accident' to erase this document. But the original contract was lodged with an offshore trust in Liechtenstein."
My heart gave a faint, dangerous thud. If this document was legally valid, every action my father took, every share I held, and every vote I cast was legally void. Cross could reclaim the entire company in an international arbitration court.
May you like
"This is impossible," I murmured, examining the yellowed paper.
"It is very real, Claire," Cross sneered, leaning forward. "Sign over the energy patents tonight. Grant Aegis Vanguard total operational authority over Zenith’s European holdings. Do this, and I will allow you to keep your mansion, your luxury cars, and a comfortable annual stipend. Refuse... and I will file this covenant with the Hague tomorrow morning, stripping you of every single penny you possess."
