Chapter 9 - The Family Meeting
Margaret demanded a family meeting.
Daniel almost refused.
Samuel convinced him otherwise.
“Let her talk.”
“Why?”
“People make mistakes when they think they still have power.”
The Carter family gathered in the mansion library.
Margaret had been released pending trial and temporarily barred from contact with Noah.
Daniel arrived alone.
Noah stayed with Daniel’s sister-in-law.
Margaret stood beside the fireplace.
“You embarrassed this family.”
Daniel sat.
“You kicked a fifteen-month-old down the stairs.”
His uncle Robert shifted uncomfortably.
Margaret ignored it.
“You assaulted me.”
“Yes.”
“You want control of everything.”
“No.”
She laughed.
“You expect anyone to believe that?”
Daniel opened a folder.
“I’ve already recommended an independent CEO.”
Margaret’s expression changed.
Daniel continued.
“And an outside trustee for Noah’s shares until all investigations are finished.”
Robert frowned.
“You’re giving up control?”
“Temporarily.”
“Why?”
Daniel looked at Margaret.
“Because unlike my mother, I don’t need control badly enough to destroy people for it.”
Nobody spoke.
Margaret’s voice hardened.
“You think your father wanted strangers running his company?”
“My father wanted thieves out of it.”
The room changed.
Daniel placed Victor Lang’s transaction summary on the table.
Robert picked it up.
His face drained.
“Margaret.”
“It’s fabricated.”
Daniel placed Claire’s copies beside it.
Then Henry’s internal audit request.
Then the fake email logs.
Then the certified DNA result.
Margaret stared at the pile.
Daniel stood.
“You knew Noah was mine.”
“No.”
“You knew.”
“Claire—”
“Don’t say her name.”
Margaret flinched.
Daniel rarely raised his voice.
That made the next words worse.
“You waited until my wife was dead because she was the one person who could expose exactly what you were doing.”
Margaret’s face twisted.
“She turned you against me.”
“No.”
Daniel stepped closer.
“You did.”
His uncle Robert stood.
“So the DNA story was fake?”
Margaret looked around.
Every face she once controlled now wanted an answer.
She finally snapped.
“Henry had no right to hand control to an infant!”
Silence.
Daniel didn’t move.
Margaret realized what she had admitted.
Robert whispered:
“You knew.”
Margaret’s breathing changed.
Daniel looked at Samuel, who had been legally recording the meeting with all parties notified.
There it was.
May you like
Her own voice.
Her own admission.
