Chapter 3 - The Vanishing Ledger
Before Helena could respond to Adrian's accusation, the heavy doors of the holding suite were pushed open. Clara’s father, Arthur Winslow, rushed into the room, leaning heavily on his walking stick, his face shadowed with exhaustion.
"Father!" Clara cried, reaching for his arm. "What is Helena talking about? Is the firm in trouble?"
Arthur looked at Helena with deep, sorrowful regret before bowing his head. "The firm isn't in trouble, Clara... but our family legacy is. Thirty years ago, before you were born, the land beneath the Winslow ancestral estate was purchased through a joint partnership with Adrian’s late father."
Adrian frowned, stepping between his mother and the old man. "My father never mentioned a joint deed for the Winslow estate. The Vale Trust only owns corporate shipping assets."
"Because your mother buried the original partnership ledger after your father passed away!" Arthur revealed, his voice shaking with years of suppressed pain. "Helena knew that under the original charter, if Clara married into the Vale family without a waiver, fifty percent of the Vale corporate equity would automatically merge into the Winslow estate."
Helena’s eyes darted toward the door as she realized her ultimate motive—preventing Clara from acquiring legal voting power over the Vale empire—was about to be exposed to her son.
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"You didn't try to protect me from debt, Mother," Adrian realized, staring at Helena in disbelief. "You tried to steal Clara's rightful share of my father's legacy."
👉 Read PART 4 to see how Helena attempted to destroy the original partnership ledger!
