Chapter 2 - The Petition Written Before the Bruises
Helena arrived in a white winter coat with two attorneys and demanded that security release Derek.
She looked at Laura’s torn sleeve without sympathy.
“My nephew lost his temper because this woman threatened our employees.”
Laura forced herself upright.
“I threatened to expose where you stole their pensions.”
Helena handed investigators an emergency competency petition declaring Laura mentally unstable and transferring her company shares to the Ashcroft board.
The document described her crying on the foyer floor hours before Derek locked the doors.
Vincent read it twice.
“You wrote the scene before he created it.”
Helena answered coldly.
“Your wife grew up above a laundromat. She entered our family carrying debt and resentment. Women like her confuse marriage with ownership.”
Laura’s voice sharpened.
“My mother pressed your hotel linens until arthritis bent her hands. Do not use her labor as an insult while wearing the wealth it created.”
Derek claimed Laura attacked him first.
The recovered footage showed no such act.
It showed him pointing at the folder and saying, “Sign, or your mother loses her medical coverage tonight.”
Vincent turned toward Helena.
“You threatened a sick woman to steal a signature.”
Helena smiled.
“Every contract has leverage.”
Mason opened the folder’s final page.
Laura’s shares were not the only assets being transferred.
The petition also gave Helena control of the Ashcroft Employee Relief Fund.
That fund held more than six hundred million dollars.
Laura looked at Vincent.
“Tell them why your family needs that money before midnight.”
Vincent remained silent.
May you like
Then the investigator read the scheduled transaction aloud.
At 12:01 a.m., the entire employee fund would be transferred to a private company owned by Vincent.
