Chapter 12 - THE BOARDROOM WAR
Vanessa's proxy campaign was ruthless.
She did not accuse Julian of crimes.
She accused him of instability.
His mother had returned from the dead.
His aunt admitted drugging her.
His father had hidden another daughter.
His executive aide confessed to corruption.
Investors were exhausted.
Vanessa promised order.
She recruited two independent directors by guaranteeing no family member, including herself, would become CEO.
Instead she proposed an outside turnaround specialist.
Secretly, that specialist had worked for Harrow Crest.
Julian discovered the connection twelve hours before the vote.
Too late to persuade everyone.
He needed one more board member.
Caroline owned no corporate shares.
Mara's old marital interest had been extinguished decades earlier through fraudulent documents that could take years to challenge.
Eleanor held a small block.
She offered it to Julian.
He refused.
"You don't get to buy forgiveness."
"I'm not trying to."
"Then vote because it's right."
Eleanor did.
The vote tied.
The deciding vote belonged to a dormant trust Adrian created years earlier.
Its trustee was Thomas Bell.
Still hospitalized.
Vanessa's people filed an emergency petition claiming Thomas was medically incapable.
If granted, the court would appoint a temporary trustee.
Vanessa had a candidate ready.
Julian responded with medical evidence showing Thomas was competent enough to issue written instructions.
Thomas signed the proxy.
For Julian.
Vanessa lost by one vote.
She did not react.
That frightened Julian.
After the meeting, she approached him privately.
"You think the company was the endgame."
"What is?"
"Ask Mara why she never tried to contact you after Adrian died."
Mara had claimed fear, illness, and lack of resources.
Vanessa gave Julian bank records.
Three days after Adrian's death, an account connected to Mara received two million dollars.
Mara stared at the record.
"I never got this."
The receiving company used one of Mara's old aliases.
The money then moved to an account controlled by Thomas Bell.
Julian confronted Thomas.
Thomas admitted receiving it.
"Adrian instructed me to create a legal-defense fund for Mara."
"Why didn't she get it?"
"I couldn't find her."
"Vanessa found her."
"Because Vanessa had Douglas's records."
Reasonable.
Then Julian asked why the transfer occurred after Adrian died.
Thomas explained Adrian had scheduled it automatically.
Also reasonable.
Vanessa's evidence failed to prove Mara took money.
But it revealed something else.
Thomas controlled two million dollars that belonged to Mara.
He had never mentioned it.
Thomas claimed he preserved it for her.
Mara demanded the account statements.
Thomas refused until his attorney reviewed them.
That night, he vanished from the hospital.
Security footage showed him leaving voluntarily.
A car waited outside.
Registered to Harrow Crest.
Vanessa had not lost Thomas.
She had recruited him.
The next morning she announced a lawsuit challenging Adrian's entire estate plan.
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Her lead witness would be Thomas Bell.
And Thomas intended to testify that Julian's inheritance had been obtained through fraud.
