CHAPTER 6 — THE SON WHO WANTED THE THRONE
The lights went out.
Emergency lamps glowed red along the walls.
Beatrice gripped her cane.
“What did you do, Charles?”
My father remained calm.
“I protected myself.”
A voice came through the facility’s speaker system.
“Richard.”
Gavin.
“You should have stayed at the house.”
I moved toward the door, but it would not open.
“What do you want?”
“The same thing you inherited without earning.”
“The company?”
“My name.”
His voice echoed through the room.
“I spent thirty years watching Charles introduce you as his only son. I built the private systems that protected Sterling Global. I buried scandals. I threatened witnesses. I made sure your world remained clean.”
“You chose to do those things.”
“I chose survival.”
A camera above the door rotated toward us.
Gavin could see everything.
“I’m taking Charles,” he said.
“Why?”
“Because he has the only original copy of the family codicil.”
Beatrice went still.
I looked at her.
“What codicil?”
She did not answer.
Gavin laughed.
“Ask Grandmother.”
Beatrice’s fingers tightened around the cane.
“The codicil gives any legally recognized child of Charles Sterling the right to challenge control of the family voting trust.”
Gavin wanted Charles to publicly acknowledge him.
With that recognition, he could challenge me for the company.
“You will never control Sterling Global,” I said.
“I already have enough board members.”
The truth hit me.
The forged medical records were not merely designed to give Eleanor custody of Maya.
They were designed to remove me from the board.
My phone buzzed.
An email notification appeared.
EMERGENCY BOARD SESSION—9:00 A.M. TOMORROW.
The agenda contained one item:
Removal of Richard Sterling as Chief Executive due to psychological instability and criminal risk.
Gavin’s voice returned.
“By tomorrow morning, you will have no company, no voting authority and no access to the family accounts.”
“You still need Charles.”
“Yes.”
A heavy impact shook the hallway.
Someone was forcing open the secured entrance.
Beatrice walked toward Charles.
“Give Richard the codicil.”
Charles shook his head.
“Gavin is my son.”
“So is Richard.”
“One of them understands power.”
I stared at him.
“After everything Gavin has done, you still prefer him?”
Charles looked almost amused.
“I prefer whoever wins.”
The door burst inward.
Three armed security contractors entered.
They wore uniforms from Sterling Protective Services—the division Gavin had once managed.
I stepped in front of Maya’s documents, though I had no idea why. Instinct told me every piece of evidence mattered.
The men ignored Beatrice and me.
They lifted Charles into a wheelchair.
My father did not resist.
As they pushed him toward the hallway, he looked back.
“There is one lesson I tried to teach you, Richard.”
“What lesson?”
“Love makes a man predictable.”
The contractors disappeared with him.
Minutes later, actual police entered the building.
Gavin and Charles were gone.
No one had been injured, but the security system had been wiped clean.
Detective Morales called while officers searched the grounds.
“Richard, you need to return home.”
“Is Maya safe?”
“She was.”
My blood froze.
“What does that mean?”
“Your housekeeper found her bedroom empty.”
I gripped the phone.
“Where are the guards?”
“Unconscious. Someone put a sedative in their coffee.”
I ran toward the stairs.
Morales continued.
“There was a note on Maya’s bed.”
“What did it say?”
“She wrote it herself.”
I stopped.
May you like
Morales read the message aloud.
Daddy, don’t follow me. Mommy Sarah told me where the real evidence is hidden.
