“What happens tomorrow?”
Julian answered calmly.
“I call an emergency board meeting. The authorization documents are already prepared. Once Valerie is officially presumed gone, I can take control of her voting position long enough to transfer the port property to my father.”
“And the baby?” Chloe asked.
“Our child will eventually benefit from everything.”
I stared at the speaker.
My half-sister hadn’t merely known about Julian’s deception.
She was building a future with him.
A future they expected to finance with my family’s legacy.
Mason stopped the recording.
For a long time, neither of us spoke.
Then I stood.
“He thinks he’s walking into Sterling Shipyard tomorrow and signing documents under my authority.”
“We can take everything directly to investigators,” Mason said.
“We will.”
I pulled the blanket tighter around my shoulders.
“But I’m not allowing him to sign one page using my name.”
The executive boardroom of Sterling Shipyard occupied the highest floor of our main harbor building.
The next morning, fifteen directors sat around the long mahogany table.
Some of them had known my father for decades.
Arthur, his oldest business partner, was furious.
“Valerie hasn’t even been missing for forty-eight hours! There isn’t an official declaration of anything, and you’re already trying to control her voting shares?”
Julian sat at the head of the table wearing a perfectly tailored gray suit.
He looked exactly like a grieving husband trying to hold a company together.
“I’m not trying to take Valerie’s property,” he said softly. “I’m trying to protect the business while authorities continue searching.”
His attorney placed several folders on the table.
Inside were authorization forms and property-transfer documents carrying versions of my signature.
“The board needs to approve these transactions quickly,” Julian said. “Valerie trusted my judgment.”
Arthur slapped his palm against the table.
“Then wait until we know what happened to her!”
Julian lowered his eyes dramatically.
“We all understand that after this much time…”
He deliberately left the sentence unfinished.
Then he picked up a pen.
Outside the heavy double doors, I stood beside two state investigators and a prosecutor.
I waited until Julian uncapped the pen.
Then I opened the doors.
They struck the wall with a loud echo.
Everyone turned.
Julian looked up.
His entire face changed.
