Chapter 13 - The Ghost of St. Jude’s
Emma did not flinch, but Daniel saw the tremor that ran through her shoulders before she crossed her arms to hide it.
"My mother is buried in St. Jude’s cemetery in Boston," Emma said, every word clipped and hard. "I was six years old when the car went into the Charles River. They dredged the vehicle. I attended the memorial. I stood there while my father wept into an empty casket."
"An empty casket indeed," Arthur Vance murmured. He slid a black-and-white photograph across the desk.
It was a surveillance still taken six days ago outside an upscale private clinic in Geneva. A woman in her late fifties, with Emma’s unmistakable high cheekbones and striking amber-flecked eyes, was stepping into an armored Maybach. Her hair was platinum silver, cut into a ruthless bob. Around her neck hung an emerald pendant—the exact match to the heirloom Daniel had seen in Jonathan’s private safe years ago.
"Her name is Evelyn Cross," Arthur explained, watching Emma’s reaction with clinical precision. "Before she faked her death to escape fifty million dollars in federal securities fraud, she was your father’s primary financial rival. Jonathan crushed her firm in the crash of '98. She swore she would dismantle the Sterling dynasty piece by piece."
"And she used Vanessa," Daniel deduced, the horrifying puzzle locking into place piece by piece. "Vanessa wasn't just trying to marry me for money. She was placed in my social circle."
"Vanessa was Evelyn’s surrogate instrument," Arthur agreed. "The plan was simple: isolate you from your family, prevent you from producing a legitimate heir with Emma, and merge the Sterling assets into a blind trust that Evelyn controls from Switzerland. But you ruined that plan, Daniel. You brought Sophie home. You claimed her."
"So what happens now?" Emma whispered, staring down at the photograph of the mother she had mourned for over two decades.
Arthur Vance stood up, buttoning his trench coat. "Now, Evelyn has initiated Article 9 of the international trust covenant Jonathan foolishly co-signed in 1999. In twelve hours, a team of federal marshals accompanied by international custody evaluators will arrive at these gates. They have a warrant to seize Sophie for mandatory genetic re-sequencing in Zurich."
"Over my dead body," Daniel said, his voice deadly calm.
May you like
"That can easily be arranged, Mr. Sterling," Arthur replied gravely. "Evelyn doesn't want Sophie to love her. She wants Sophie’s blood to unlock the four-billion-dollar sovereign trust fund your grandfather established. And if you attempt to hide the girl, they will issue a Red Notice for parental kidnapping before noon."
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