Chapter 17 - THE PRICE OF SILENCE
requested a meeting at the Grand Aurelia Hotel.
Claire agreed only after investigators secured the entire floor.
Lydia arrived wearing white, as if she were attending a celebration rather than facing a criminal investigation.
“You look like your father,” she told Claire. “He also believed principles could protect him.”
Claire placed a recorder on the table.
Lydia did not object.
She admitted knowing about Aster Vale but claimed Victor had manipulated everyone.
Then she offered Claire a deal.
Lydia would provide records proving Victor’s involvement. In exchange, Claire would keep Damian’s name out of the new charges and guarantee him financial support after his release.Lydia
“You still think I owe him protection?”
“You owe your daughter a father.”
“I owe my daughter safety.”
Lydia’s expression hardened.
She slid a folder across the table.
Inside was a document granting Lydia control of a trust containing several Rowan Meridian patents.
The signatures belonged to Claire’s parents.
“If I activate this trust,” Lydia said, “your manufacturing division loses the right to use its most valuable technology.”
Thousands of jobs would be at risk.
Claire examined the document carefully.
The signatures appeared authentic.
Lydia leaned closer.
“Withdraw your cooperation. Give me Arthur’s briefcase. I will make the trust disappear.”
Claire closed the folder.
“My father made one mistake. He protected the company by negotiating with people like you.”
“And what will you do differently?”
“I’ll let the truth become expensive.”
Claire stood.
Lydia smiled again.
“You have forty-eight hours.”
When Claire returned to headquarters, Mara had completed an initial examination of the trust.
The document was real.
But one page was missing.
Without that page, no one knew who possessed the final authority to activate it.
At the bottom of the folder, Mara found a handwritten reference:
The founder’s daughter holds the deciding share.
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Claire was the founder’s daughter.
But the share did not belong to her.
