Chapter 6 - THE HEIR WHO PROFITED FROM NOT ASKING.
Daniel insisted he never saw the pension ledger.
Victoria reminded him he had signed quarterly financial summaries for years.
“You wanted the title without the burden of reading.”
Celeste looked at him with quiet disappointment.
“She is cruel, Daniel. But she is not wrong.”
The truth humiliated him more than accusation.
He had attended worker-appreciation dinners while approving reports that erased their retirement money.
He had praised loyalty from a chandeliered stage while employees delayed surgery because their pensions disappeared.
Daniel said the transfers had been described as temporary investments.
Celeste answered, “Temporary for you. Permanent for the people who died waiting.”
Lucy asked whether her father’s retirement money had also been taken.
No one answered quickly enough.
Thomas had worked for Ashford Estates for twenty-four years.
His pension account showed a zero balance one week before his disappearance.
Victoria said he had forfeited it after stealing records.
Lucy’s face hardened.
“You stole from him first. Then you called him a thief for finding the proof.”
Daniel ordered the accounts frozen.
Victoria smiled.
“You no longer have authority.”
She produced the incompetency order.
The court had approved it one hour earlier.
Then Celeste placed a second document beside it.
Thomas Bennett had filed an objection before he vanished.
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The hearing judge was waiting on a live call.
But when the screen connected, the judge said Thomas was standing in his courtroom.
