Chapter 6 - The Original Trust
The bank opened Monday at nine.
I arrived at eight fifty-eight.
Emily came with me.
So did an attorney my father trusted.
Rebecca Shaw.
The deposit box contained six folders.
The original family trust.
Property deeds.
Company voting agreements.
Insurance documents.
And one sealed envelope with my name on it.
DANIEL.
I opened it.
Inside was a handwritten letter from Dad.
Son,
If you're reading this, something has gone badly wrong.
I read silently.
Then stopped.
Emily touched my arm.
"What?"
I handed her the letter.
Dad had changed the family succession structure eighteen months earlier.
Derek didn't know.
He believed Emily would inherit controlling authority.
She wouldn't.
Neither would I.
Dad had created an independent family board.
Emily and I would share control with our mother and two outside trustees.
No single person could sell the company.
No spouse could claim voting rights through marriage.
Most importantly—
Any evidence of fraud automatically suspended the accused party's corporate authority.
Rebecca looked at me.
"If Derek submitted the documents you found, he committed multiple felonies."
"Can we stop him now?"
"Yes."
I shook my head.
"Not yet."
Emily stared at me.
"Why?"
"Because Derek isn't the top."
I placed Charles Vane's file on the table.
"He's working for someone."
Rebecca went quiet.
Then her phone rang.
She answered.
Her expression changed.
"What?"
She listened.
Then looked at me.
"That was Harrington Logistics."
"What happened?"
"Derek just called an emergency board meeting."
"When?"
"Eleven."
I checked my watch.
9:37.
Rebecca continued.
"He's planning to remove your father as chairman."
Emily stood.
"He can't."
Rebecca looked at the forged documents.
"With these?"
May you like
She swallowed.
"He thinks he can."
