Chapter 4 - The Shadow of Clara
The library of the Blake mansion was filled with the smell of old leather and beeswax. Adriano sat at his desk, staring at a portrait of Clara that hung over the fireplace. She looked young and beautiful, her long brown hair flowing over her shoulders, her hazel eyes filled with a warmth that had once been the center of his world.
"I’m sorry, Clara," he whispered to the empty room. "I let a viper into our home."
He had been so focused on expanding the business, on securing the future of the company, that he had ignored the signs. He had believed Vanessa’s gentle smiles, her soft voice, and her apparent devotion to his sons. He had wanted to believe that his boys could have a mother again.
The phone on his desk rang, breaking the silence.
"Adriano," a voice said. It was his lead corporate counsel, Robert Thorne. "We’ve analyzed the secondary trust document Clara’s lawyer sent before he... passed away."
"What do you mean, 'passed away'?" Adriano asked, his instincts instantly flaring.
"Clara’s attorney, Thomas Vance, was killed in a hit-and-run accident in Boston two months ago," Robert said, his voice grim. "The police ruled it an accident, but the timing... it was the same week the original trust document went missing from his office archives."
Adriano felt a cold sweat break out on the back of his neck. Julian Sterling didn't just play with bank accounts and dummy corporations. He killed people who stood in his way.
"What does the trust document say about the docks, Robert?"
"It’s tight, Adriano," Robert replied. "Clara registered the Jersey shipping terminals under a private trust that can only be accessed by your sons when they turn twenty-one. You are the trustee, but you cannot sell, transfer, or lease those terminals to any third party without a court order proving it is in the absolute best interest of the heirs. If you try to transfer them to Julian, the trust immediately defaults to an international charity board."
"So Julian can't get them through Vanessa," Adriano realized. "Even if I wanted to give them to him to save my family, I can't."
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"Exactly," Robert said. "Which means Julian has only one option left to gain control of those terminals."
"He has to eliminate the heirs," Adriano whispered.
