THE HEIR'S REVENGE

Chapter 39

“I know you are surprised that I'm here.” it was Hangrove, he had come to the company the next day with smiles on his face.

Gerald had called me in the evening of the past day. When I saw his call, I just knew that something must be wrong.

Gerald never called in the evenings. I already established that fact about him in the first few weeks of knowing. He was a man with structured habits and I had respected that about him.

So when my phone rang at eight forty three in the evenings. I picked it up before my mind could question what was happening.

"Gerald."

“I'm sorry I have to call you at this time.” His voice was low and he seemed to be panicking. Gerald was not a man to panic so I wondered what exactly was wrong. “There's something you should know. Something that I think is very important.”

I was already standing from my study chair.

“Go on.”

“I would love to tell you but not on the phone.” He paused. “It's late, I know but if it wasn't important, I wouldn't be asking you to come.”

"I am on my way," I said, immediately. I put on my jacket while I told Henry about Gerald's call and he said specifically that he would come with me.

In the car, we didn't say much to each other. Knowing that Gerald doesn't bluff, we both knew that whatever it was that was making him ask me to come to the office was terribly important.

We sat in silence till we got to the company. We headed directly to Gerald's office which was on the fourteenth floor of the building.

Gerald was standing at the door when we got there. His personal assistant was still there when we arrived which told me Gerald had called her back in after hours to be present which told me he wanted a witness to whatever this conversation was going to be.

When we entered he still didn't sit down immediately. He shook my hand and then Henry's and went to his desk to pick up a document.

“This was filed today.” He said to me, “With the civil courts. It was sent directly to the Blackwell Corporation's registered legal address, that was how it got to me. I received it this evening and didn't think it was something I should wait to tell you in the morning.”

I took the document and read the first page while standing.

But then, I had to sit and read the rest of the pages.

It was a formal legal document arguing and challenging the fact that Richard Blackwell named me his heir. It was filed by a legal firm called Arden. They described themselves as concerned stakeholders with fine interest in the proper governing of Blackwell Corporation.

They said that they believed that Richard Blackwell was suffering from a terminal illness in his final weeks and then had made a bad decision.

Richard was in significant pain and was in medication in and out of hospitals.

And in his condition, he had met a young man whom he had meant briefly previously and then had decided in a short period of time to transfer his entire estate and the leadership of a multi billion dollar corporation to that young man based solely on an emotional belief that the young man was his grandson.

The document argued that Richard Blackwell might not have made that decision with full mental clarity. How could he transfer his assets to a man he just met. The document said that Richard was vulnerable and too emotional and then made that decision so quickly that he didn't think well.

The document requested that the courts review the inheritance and consider if I was truly the heir to his wealth.

“Who filed this?” I asked, putting the document down on the table.

“The legal firm Ardem and Associates. They represent a company called Meridian Holdings.” Gerald answered.

“Meridian Holdings?” Henry asked. His voice was low. “It is one of the companies connected to the Vane family trust.” He added.

“Yes.” Gerald answered, a bit surprised that Henry knew them.

It was Victoria.

When we met, Agent didn't threaten me, instead she went home and made her smartest move.

“One more thing.. A name is attached here.” Gerald said and picked up the document again.

I didn't bother looking. It was obviously Victoria's name..

“Hargrove…”

I froze, then wondered if I heard well.

Does that mean that Victoria was going to use Hargrove against me in my own company?

“Do you think Hargrove is in on this?” Henry asked,looking at me.

“Yes. His name is boldly written here and this document knows the internal history of Blackwell Corporation that a general firm would not know.” Gerald explained and I looked at him in return.

Gerald read the paragraph.

He was quiet for a long moment.

"Edward Hargrove was a member of this board for twenty two years," he said carefully. "He was present for discussions about Richard's health in the months before his death. He would have had access to much of this information."

Coupled with the fact that his name was written in that document and that he resigned just after I dismissed his proposal in the board meeting, I just felt it in my bones that Hargrove is in on this.

Hargrove hated me for my audacity but he had no resources so he needed someone with resources who could help him. They found each other, him and Victoria.

Henry said quietly from behind me: "How long has this been in preparation?"

“The document was filed today but it's obvious that these documents have taken weeks to construct properly before today.” Gearald answered, looking at me.

I sat with that for a moment.

Victoria was at it again.

She had come to the tea house to tell me the truth about my mother. She had made it look like she truly cared while the whole time, this document was in preparation.

She didn't seem desperate and even though I didn't trust her, I hadn't seen this coming. I was fuming at this point.

_____________

"How serious is this?" I asked Gerald directly.

Gerald was quiet for a moment. He was a man who chose his words carefully always and he chose them even more carefully now.

“This is very serious and should be acted upon as fast as possible. It could cause serious disruption if we don't respond to it quickly. It gets more serious if Hargrove is willing to testify as a witness since he's been here for twenty two years.”

I nodded.

I looked at the document on the table.

Victoria's voice was clearly on those pages and Hargrove, even though I didn't know him too well, was also on these pages.

How could they bring up accusations like this? I thought about Richard Blackwell while he was still at Memorial Hospital. His white hair, kind eyes. His voice was barely above a whisper.

He had spent such a long time searching for his daughter but had only found her son. He made sure that in his final hours that the son would have everything the daughter should have.

And this document was trying to say that the man had not known what he was doing.

I picked up the challenge and I stood up, looking up at Gerald.

“I need the full hospital records from Memorial Hospital for the entire period of Richard's stay. Every document. Every clinical note. Every medication record and every nursing observation."

"I'll get those," Gerald said.

I nodded. “I also need the names of every member of staff who had regular contact with Richard in his final three months.. anyone at all who spoke to him regularly.”

"I know where they are," Henry confirmed.

“I also need the full record of the search Richard conducted for my mother. I need every document that will show that this wasn't the conclusion of a confused, dying man.”

Gerald looked at me for a moment with the expression he sometimes had when he was updating his assessment of something.

"Yes," he said. "I can manage all of that."

"Good." I picked up my jacket. "I want the counter case ready to file within ten days."

Gerald blinked. "Ten days is very fast for a response of this complexity."

"I know," I said. "That is why I am starting tonight."

In the car on the way home Henry sat beside me and did not speak for several minutes.

Then he said: "She was building this while she came to sit with you."

"Yes."

"She came to the tea house to see how much you knew," Henry said. "And to buy time while the filing was completed."

"Yes."

"And you told her exactly how much you knew," he said.

"I told her I had enough," I said. "I did not tell her specifically what I had but you are right, I underestimated her.”

Henry was quiet for a moment.

"What do you need from me tonight?" he said.

"Richard's private documents," I said. "The ones from the safe in the study. The personal journals. The investigator reports from the years he spent searching for my mother. The correspondence with the private investigators he hired." I paused. "All of it. I want to read everything tonight."

"I will have it ready when we get home," Henry said.

"And Henry." I looked at him. "The hospital staff. The people who were with Richard in his final weeks. I want to speak to them personally before the legal team does. I want to understand what they saw and heard before I decide how to use it."

Henry nodded. "I will start making contact tomorrow morning."

"Tonight," I said.

A pause.

"Tonight," Henry agreed.

We got home at eleven.

Lily was asleep, earlier than usual. I checked her door the way I always did. The nightlight was on and the rabbit was under her arm. Agent Cole was in the corridor.

I stood at Lily's door for a moment longer than usual.

Then I went to study.

Henry had already been there before me. Richard's private documents were on the desk in three neat stacks. Personal journals in one stack. Investigator reports in another. Personal correspondence in the third.

A fresh pot of coffee was on the side table.

I sat down.

I opened the first journal.

Richard Blackwell's handwriting was small and precise, the handwriting of a man who had spent a lifetime making careful notes. The first entry in the journal that was relevant was dated eleven years ago.

I read that three times.

Then I kept reading.

I read for hours through the investigator reports that followed the wrong leads and the right ones. I followed the ones through Richard's private notes about each new piece of information.

I went through the final entries, the ones he did before he died.

I sat back in the chair.

The clock on the study wall said three fourteen in the morning.

I looked at the stacks of documents on the desk. Eleven years of searching. Eleven years of investigator reports and journal entries and correspondence and hope that kept getting knocked down and getting back up again.

This was not the decision of a confused dying man meeting a stranger for the first time.

This was the conclusion of eleven years of a father refusing to stop looking for his daughter's child.

I picked up my phone and sent Gerald a message.

I told him that Richard spent eleven years searching for me before he died. We can prove that the decision to name me as heir was not sudden or confused. I will bring you everything to your office tomorrow morning.”

Gerald replied seven minutes later which means that he wasn't sleeping either.

He asked me to bring it all in.

I put the phone down.

I looked at Richard's journal sitting open on the desk. He had nice handwriting. He spent eleven years trying to find his missing daughter.

I felt bad that I, myself, hadn't met him properly. He was gone even before I could be grateful to him for handing his property to me.