Chapter 9 - Cecelia Finally Admits What She Knew
Cecelia could no longer claim ignorance.
She admitted witnessing the buyout.
Richard had received cash and debt relief in exchange for surrendering
his ownership.
Years later, the company became enormously valuable.
Richard regretted selling.
He began telling himself Thomas cheated him.
Cecelia knew that story was false.
“Why support this?” Chloe asked.
Cecelia looked at her son.
“Because Richard made Maxwell believe your father stole his future.”
Maxwell closed his eyes.
Cecelia had allowed resentment to pass from father to son.
She also admitted she knew Chloe had sent Margaret a message.
How?
Emma, the maid of honor, had briefly asked Cecelia where Margaret was
after the bouquet toss.
Cecelia guessed something was wrong.
She did not know the note’s exact words.
Her confrontation with Margaret had been an attempt to stop her from
reaching Chloe privately.
Margaret asked:
“Why did you say Chloe belongs to your family now?”
Cecelia looked ashamed.
“Because that is how I was raised to think about marriage.”
Chloe answered:
“I don’t belong to either family.”
Cecelia nodded.
“No.”
Richard Sterling refused to concede.
He claimed the buyout agreement was forged.
Independent document examiners compared signatures, ink age, paper, bank
transfers, and Cecelia’s testimony.
The evidence strongly supported authenticity.
Richard’s grievance had grown around regret, not theft.
But another document in Thomas’s cabinet complicated everything.
A private memo showed Thomas knew Richard was becoming financially
unstable during the buyout.
Thomas deliberately negotiated hard.
He had not stolen Richard’s stake.
He had taken advantage of Richard’s desperation.
Chloe stared at her father’s handwriting.
The truth did not turn Thomas into a criminal.
It did make him less heroic than family legend.
Margaret said:
“Your father could be a good man and still have done something
ruthless.”
Chloe nodded.
May you like
For the first time, neither family needed a perfect parent to understand
what happened.
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