Chapter 7 - I Opened My Father’s Old Watch and Found Proof That Diana’s Family Had Been Lying for Twenty YearsMy father's toolbox sat beneath a tarp in our garage.
I had not opened it in years.
Diana stood beside me.
“This is it?”
“Yes.”
I removed the broken gold watch.
It still worked.
I turned the crown.
Nothing.
Diana looked closer.
“Try again.”
I did.
A hidden compartment opened.
Inside was a memory card.
We stared.
I inserted it into my laptop.
Files appeared.
Years of transactions.
Recordings.
Photographs.
Emails.
And one folder labeled:
THE REAL SUCCESSION.
Diana opened it.
Her face went pale.
The truth was worse than we expected.
Edward had never intended Gabriel to control the company.
Neither had my father.
The original succession plan named Diana.
But there was a second condition.
Diana had to marry.
Not for money.
Not for status.
The charter required her to marry the heir of a founding partner family.
I stared at the screen.
“That's absurd.”
Diana looked at me.
“The founding partner family.”
My father's name appeared.
“Owen.”
I swallowed.
“You're the other half.”
The room went silent.
It explained everything.
The trust.
The records.
Why my father had been tied to Vance Industries.
Why Gabriel had been terrified.
Why Diana had been pushed into public scandals.
If Diana married anyone outside the founding family, Gabriel could challenge the succession.
The charter had been designed decades earlier.
I looked at her.
“This is insane.”
“Yes.”
“Did your father know?”
“Yes.”
“Did mine?”
“Yes.”
“Did they expect us to—”
“No.”
She shook her head.
“They were protecting us, not arranging us.”
That mattered.
A lot.
The next file opened automatically.
Edward's voice.
“If you are listening to this, Gabriel has probably found the charter.”
Diana leaned closer.
“He will tell you the marriage clause gives him power.”
Pause.
“It doesn't.”
Another pause.
“The clause was revoked seven years ago.”
Diana stared.
“Why?”
Edward answered:
“Because I changed it.”
The final page displayed the legal amendment.
No marriage requirement.
No founding heir requirement.
Diana alone held the succession.
Gabriel had been lying.
All these years.
He had built his entire plan on a dead clause.
Then another file opened.
A recorded meeting.
Gabriel.
My father.
Edward.
Twenty years earlier.
Gabriel said,
“You're giving her everything.”
Edward replied,
“She earned it by being born.”
Gabriel laughed.
“And what about Owen?”
My father answered,
“He gets his own future.”
Gabriel leaned closer.
“And if I refuse?”
Edward whispered,
“Then you lose everything.”
The recording ended.
Diana closed her eyes.
“He hated us.”
I put my hand over hers.
“Maybe.”
She looked at me.
“But he was afraid.”
“Of you?”
“Of losing.”
We found one more file.
A bank account.
Gabriel's.
Payments to Liam.
Payments to Vanessa.
Payments to three board members.
And one payment to the man who had called me.
We followed the account.
It led to a private security company.
Owned by a company called Northstar Holdings.
The beneficial owner was hidden.
We searched deeper.
Then the name appeared.
Vivian Vance.
Diana froze.
“My mother.”
I looked at her.
“She funded Gabriel.”
“No.”
“She did.”
“Why?”
The answer came in another recording.
Vivian.
“I didn't want Gabriel to destroy my daughter.”
Gabriel replied:
“Then give me access.”
“I can't.”
“You will.”
“I will not.”
“Then Diana dies.”
Silence.
Vivian whispered:
“What do you want?”
“Control.”
Then the recording ended.
Diana began crying.
“She did it to protect me.”
“Yes.”
“She became his partner.”
“To save you.”
Diana looked at me.
“She was never the enemy.”
“No.”
“She was trapped.”
“Yes.”
Then the garage door opened.
Gabriel stood outside.
He had a gun.
And behind him stood Vivian.
Alive.
Diana stepped forward.
“Mom.”
Vivian looked at her.
“I’m sorry.”
Gabriel smiled.
“Enough.”
He raised the gun.
Diana grabbed my hand.
I squeezed it.
Then Vivian stepped in front of us.
“Don't.”
Gabriel stared.
“You betray me now?”
Vivian shook her head.
“I was never yours.”
Gabriel shot her.
Diana screamed.
I caught Vivian as she fell.
Gabriel fled.
And as the police sirens approached, Vivian grabbed Diana's hand.
“There is one more secret.”
Diana leaned closer.
Vivian whispered,
“Your father didn't die in the accident.”
Diana stared.
“He was murdered.”
May you like
Then she looked at me.
“And the man who ordered it is the person you've trusted most.”
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