Chapter 10 - The Patriarch’s Faltering Heart
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That evening, a sudden phone call shattered whatever resolve I had gathered. My grandfather had been rushed to St. Jude’s Medical Center following a severe cardiac event.
Mark and I sped through the rain-slicked city streets, leaving Grace with our trusted neighbor. When we reached the cardiac intensive care unit, the smell of antiseptic and the rhythmic beep of heart monitors greeted us like a dark omen.
Grandpa lay in the bed, looking small and fragile beneath the white hospital linens. Tubes crisscrossed his chest, but his blue eyes remained sharp as he turned his head toward me.
"Sarah," he rasped, his voice barely a whisper.
"Don't talk, Grandpa," I said, taking his cold hand in mine. "Just rest."
"No time to rest," he wheezed, squeezing my fingers with surprising strength. "Your mother... she came to my house this afternoon before my attack. She brought a team of accountants."
I looked at Mark, horror rising in my chest. "What did she do?"
"They are trying to execute a forced takeover of the family trust," Grandpa explained, coughing weakly. "They claim that because I am hospitalized, I am no longer mentally competent to serve as Sole Trustee. If they succeed, Richard's estate manager takes over the board."
"They're trying to steal the entire business," Mark said, appalled. "While you're lying in a hospital bed!"
"They think I'm finished," Grandpa smiled faintly, a glint of his old iron spirit flashing in his eyes. "They forgot who built this empire. David... David has the emergency documents ready."
"What documents?" I asked.
"An immediate transfer of full power of attorney and Managing Trusteeship," Grandpa said, locking his gaze onto mine. "To you, Sarah."
I took a step back, overwhelmed. "Grandpa, I'm a mother raising a premature baby. I don't know how to run a multi-million-dollar real estate trust!"
"You have my blood, Sarah," he said firmly. "You are the only one in this family with a spine. If you don't take the reins tonight, Evelyn and Richard will liquidate everything—including the trust meant for Grace."
May you like
He gestured toward the door, where David Miller stepped inside carrying a thick black leather binder.
"Sign the papers, Sarah," Grandpa urged softly. "And show them what happens when a mother protects her own."
