Chapter 6 - THE BLOODLINE
The room was silent save for the rapid clicking of Eleanor’s computer mouse.
"They didn't just steal my son," Eleanor whispered, her voice shaking with a terrifying mixture of heartbreak and white-hot vengeance. "They tracked him. They made sure he stayed at the bottom... so he would never be able to claim his father's estate."
David looked at Eleanor, confusion mixing with the exhaustion in his eyes. "What are you talking about?"
"Your father, Arthur Vance, owned forty percent of First National," Eleanor said, looking up at David with tears streaming down her face. "When he died in the crash that paralyzed me, his brothers forged the guardianship papers. They put you in foster care under the name 'David Miller' so his shares would default to them after thirty years if no direct heir claimed them."
She turned the monitor toward David. "The thirty-year deadline expires next week, David. If you were in a state penitentiary serving a felony sentence, your legal rights to the Vance estate would be permanently forfeited."
David stood frozen. All his life, he had believed he was an unwanted throwaway child, bounced from group home to group home, struggling to survive on minimum-wage jobs while trying to keep his sick daughter alive. He had believed he was nobody.
"They didn't break you because you were weak, David," Eleanor said, her voice rising with fierce pride. "They tried to break you because they were terrified of who you are."
Suddenly, the heavy doors to the chambers rattled. Shouting echoed from the outer hallway.
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"Judge Vance!" Sarah's frantic voice came through the intercom. "There are four private security contractors out here from the Vance Corporation! They have a federal administrative warrant signed by Judge Sterling to seize all evidence regarding First National!"
Hayes let out a breathy, arrogant laugh, wiping the sweat from his neck. "You're too late, Eleanor. Judge Sterling is on the board. You can't fight the whole city from that wheelchair."
