Chapter 6 - THE MAN WHO CARRIED THE MISSING DEED.
Marcus admitted taking the deed, but denied giving it to Evelyn.
She had ordered him to deliver a sealed leather case to the Hale family attorney.
He obeyed because she promised to restore his mother’s medical coverage.
Evelyn smiled with contempt.
“You see? Everyone has a price.”
Marcus looked at her differently now.
“No. Everyone has someone you threaten.”
He removed a small brass key from his pocket.
Before leaving the attorney’s office, he had locked the leather case inside the townhouse wine vault instead of surrendering it.
Evelyn stood.
“You disobeyed me?”
“My mother spent six years believing I abandoned her because you intercepted my letters,” he replied. “You are finished using her illness as my leash.”
Claire and Arthur opened the vault.
The original trust deed granted domestic employees twenty-five percent ownership of the townhouse, staff residences, and service companies.
Evelyn had no authority to fire Claire, evict workers, or transfer pension assets without employee approval.
Her entire power depended on no one reading the deed.
She called it outdated.
Arthur answered, “Then why did you spend twelve years hiding it?”
The deed also contained Margaret’s handwritten amendment.
If any Hale officer retaliated against a staff trustee, that officer’s voting rights transferred temporarily to the employee council.
By tearing Claire’s contract, Evelyn had triggered the clause herself.
Claire placed the pieces on the table.
“You said I would leave with nothing.”
She looked toward the workers.
“You just gave them the house.”
Then Evelyn smiled.
“You still need Arthur’s signature.”
May you like
Arthur reached for a pen.
His hand suddenly began shaking.
