Chapter 8 - CHARLES MAKES HIS LAST MOVE
Charles stopped negotiating.
He sued.
Claimed Eliza had stolen proprietary research.
Claimed the auction sale excluded concealed intellectual property.
Claimed Ambrose’s will was forged.
Claimed Clara Finch was unstable.
Then he made one final mistake.
He tried to bribe Professor Bell.
Bell recorded the conversation.
Charles offered him twenty thousand dollars to testify that the glowing prototypes were worthless and scientifically unserious.
Bell asked:
“Why pay me twenty thousand to call them worthless?”
Charles had no good answer.
The recording reached the court.
Then investigators connected Charles to one of the men who broke into Morning Star.
Conspiracy.
Attempted theft.
Witness intimidation.
His legal position collapsed.
The civil court ruled:
The ship sale to Eliza was valid.
Physical abandoned contents without active title claims belonged to her subject to superior estate claims.
Ambrose’s research estate was governed by the newly authenticated will.
Clara Finch held scientific-executor authority.
Charles retained only the twenty-percent family share defined through estate distribution.
He did not get control.
That was what mattered.
Eliza stood outside the courthouse after the ruling.
A reporter shouted:
“Miss Ward, are you rich now?”
Eliza laughed.
“Not yet.”
“How much will you make?”
“I don’t know.”
“What will you do with the ship?”
She looked toward Greyhaven Harbor.
“Fix it.”
The reporter laughed.
“You spent seventy-five dollars on a wreck and now you want to spend more?”
Eliza smiled.
May you like
“Yes.”
Some people never understood ownership.
