Chapter 6 - The Family Lawyer
Grant Mercer greeted Ethan the next morning as if nothing had happened.
“Coffee?”
Ethan closed the office door behind him. “Did you send a man to Nora Price’s apartment?”
Grant stopped smiling.
Emily watched from a chair near the window. She had insisted on coming.
Grant glanced at her cheek, where the outline of Margaret’s slap was still faintly visible.
“I think you should speak to your mother.”
“I’m speaking to you.”
Grant sat behind his desk. “Corporate security sometimes performs sensitive tasks. That does not mean I direct every movement.”
“What sensitive task required breaking into a nurse’s apartment?” Emily asked.
Grant’s eyes settled on her. “Mrs. Cole, family disputes get ugly when outsiders become involved.”
“She is not an outsider,” Ethan said.
Grant folded his hands. “Of course.”
Emily noticed a folder on the edge of his desk stamped COLE FAMILY TRUST - SUCCESSION.
“Why is my baby’s paternity connected to the family trust?” she asked.
Grant moved the folder away.
“It isn’t.”
“That was a fast answer.”
Ethan stepped closer. “Show me the trust.”
“You have copies.”
“I want the current version.”
Grant’s expression cooled. “Your father amended it shortly before he died.”
“I know.”
“Then you know certain provisions are confidential until the triggering event.”
Emily felt the baby shift.
“What triggering event?”
Grant looked at Ethan.
“The birth of your first biological child.”
The room seemed to shrink.
Ethan stared at him. “What happens when my child is born?”
Grant hesitated too long.
Emily stood. “That’s why Margaret needed the baby not to be his.”
Grant’s eyes flicked toward her.
“Careful.”
“No. You be careful. She hit me. She stole DNA. She paid for a fake report. Somebody tied to this company attacked the nurse who can prove it.”
Grant rose. “You are making very serious accusations.”
“And you’re scared.”
He smiled thinly. “You mistake restraint for fear.”
Ethan took the trust folder before Grant could stop him.
Grant grabbed his wrist.
“Put that down.”
Ethan looked at his hand.
Grant released him.
Ethan opened the folder.
The first page was ordinary legal language.
The second was not.
Upon the live birth of Ethan Cole’s first biological child, thirty-one percent of the voting shares held in the Margaret Cole Family Control Trust shall transfer immediately to a protected trust for that child, with Ethan Cole serving as sole voting trustee.
Emily whispered, “She loses control.”
Ethan looked up.
May you like
Grant was no longer behind the desk.
He was standing by the door, locking it.
