Chapter 8 - The Price of a Family Name
Richard Adams had always believed that every problem had a price.
A failed investment could be refinanced.
A disgruntled employee could be compensated.
An inconvenient witness could be persuaded.
And a difficult woman could usually be made to feel guilty.
He had built an empire on those assumptions.
Now, sitting in his private office overlooking Central Park, he watched his son enter without knocking.
Blake closed the door.
Richard looked up from his desk.
“You look terrible.”
Blake didn't answer.
Richard sighed.
“I assume this is about Kira.”
“Did you threaten her grandfather?”
Richard's expression didn't change.
“Excuse me?”
“Did you threaten Arthur Lawson?”
Richard leaned back.
“Where is this coming from?”
“Answer me.”
His father studied him.
Then he smiled faintly.
“Son, you're emotional. I understand. Your wedding was a disaster.”
Blake felt something inside him harden.
“My wedding was a disaster because I humiliated my wife.”
Richard waved a hand.
“Women get upset. She'll come around.”
“No.”
Richard raised an eyebrow.
“She won't.”
Blake stepped closer.
“And I'm beginning to understand why.”
He placed a copy of the recording transcript on the desk.
Richard glanced at it.
His smile disappeared.
“Where did you get this?”
“Does it matter?”
“It matters a great deal.”
Blake leaned forward.
“Did you use Riley to get access to Kira's property?”
Richard said nothing.
“Did you forge my signature?”
“No.”
“Did you pay someone to do it?”
Richard's eyes narrowed.
“Be careful.”
Blake laughed bitterly.
“That's what you always say when someone gets close to the truth.”
Richard stood.
“You have no idea what you're talking about.”
“Then explain it.”
His father walked toward the window.
“Harbor Point is worth hundreds of millions of dollars.”
“I know.”
“No, you don't.”
Richard turned.
“The entire financing structure depends on control of one warehouse parcel. Arthur Lawson has refused every reasonable offer for years.”
“It's Kira's property.”
“On paper.”
Blake stared.
“What does that mean?”
“It means Arthur hid it inside a trust to keep it beyond the reach of creditors.”
“That's not what the records show.”
Richard smiled coldly.
“Records can be interpreted.”
Blake felt sick.
“You were going to use my marriage.”
“I was going to secure an opportunity for our family.”
“By stealing from my wife?”
“Don't be melodramatic.”
Blake stepped backward.
He had heard that phrase his entire life.
Whenever he questioned his father's decisions.
Whenever he objected to a business deal.
Whenever he asked why Richard treated people like pieces on a chessboard.
Don't be melodramatic.
Now he recognized it for what it was.
A way to make conscience sound childish.
“Did you arrange the accident?” Blake asked.
Richard froze.
For the first time, his composure cracked.
“What accident?”
“Martin Parker.”
Richard's face drained.
Blake felt his heartbeat accelerate.
“You knew him.”
Richard looked toward the door.
“Leave.”
“Did you know him?”
“I said leave.”
Blake took another step.
“Did you have something to do with his death?”
Richard slammed his hand onto the desk.
“GET OUT!”
The sound echoed through the office.
Blake didn't move.
His father stared at him.
Then Richard's shoulders sagged.
“You don't understand what Martin was doing.”
Blake felt cold.
“Tell me.”
Richard lowered himself into his chair.
“Martin had been stealing from everyone. Arthur. Investors. His own employees. He was going to destroy the entire project.”
“So you killed him?”
“No.”
“Then what happened?”
Richard rubbed his forehead.
“I hired Charles Voss to recover documents Martin had taken.”
Blake stared.
“Charles Voss?”
“He was supposed to meet Martin and negotiate.”
“And?”
Richard looked away.
“He followed Martin's car.”
Blake's stomach tightened.
“Was he driving the SUV?”
Richard said nothing.
“Dad.”
His father's voice became almost inaudible.
“I never told him to hurt anyone.”
Blake closed his eyes.
It wasn't a denial.
Not really.
“What happened to Charles?”
“He disappeared after the accident.”
“Disappeared?”
“Left the country. Changed his name. I don't know.”
Blake stared at his father.
“And you let everyone believe it was an accident?”
Richard's expression hardened.
“I told the police everything I knew.”
“Everything?”
A long silence followed.
Then Richard said, “I told them enough.”
Blake reached for his phone.
His father stood.
“What are you doing?”
“Calling the investigator.”
Richard's face changed.
“You can't.”
“Watch me.”
“Blake, listen.”
“No.”
Richard stepped around the desk.
“If you do this, you'll destroy the family.”
Blake looked at him.
“You taught me that protecting family meant doing whatever was necessary.”
Richard nodded desperately.
“Yes.”
Blake's voice broke.
“And I believed you.”
He stepped toward the door.
“But you never taught me how to recognize when the person I was protecting was the one causing the harm.”
He left.
Across town, Riley Parker sat in a private interview room with Elena Cruz.
Her lawyer had advised her not to speak.
Riley ignored him.
“I want immunity.”
Elena folded her hands.
“That's not something I can promise.”
“Then I want protection.”
“From whom?”
Riley looked toward the mirrored wall.
“Richard Adams.”
Elena waited.
Riley's fingers trembled.
“He promised me five million dollars.”
“For what?”
“For helping him acquire the warehouse.”
“How?”
Riley swallowed.
“By keeping Blake distracted.”
Elena's expression remained neutral.
“Explain.”
“Blake always felt responsible for me. Richard knew that. He said if Blake kept choosing me, Kira would eventually become desperate to prove she wasn't jealous.”
Riley looked down.
“He thought she'd sign anything to make the arguments stop.”
“And the wedding dance?”
Riley's eyes filled.
“That was my idea.”
Elena leaned forward.
“Why?”
“Because I wanted to know whether Blake would choose me.”
Silence.
Riley wiped her face.
“I know how that sounds.”
Elena didn't respond.
Riley continued.
“I thought if he chose me in front of everyone, it would mean something.”
“What did it mean?”
Riley laughed through her tears.
“That he was still easy to manipulate.”
Elena studied her.
“Did you love him?”
Riley hesitated.
“I loved knowing he'd come when I called.”
The admission seemed to surprise even her.
She looked down.
“I never wanted to marry him. I just couldn't stand the idea of him belonging to someone who didn't need me.”
Elena opened a folder.
“Let's discuss the forged identity.”
Riley went pale.
“Rebecca Lawson.”
“Yes.”
Riley's lawyer shifted.
“My client should not answer—”
“I'll answer.”
Riley leaned forward.
“Richard gave me the documents.”
“Did he tell you they were authentic?”
“He said they could be made authentic.”
“Did you believe you were related to Arthur Lawson?”
“No.”
Elena paused.
“Then why claim the inheritance?”
Riley's expression hardened.
“Because my father died with nothing, and Arthur Lawson kept everything.”
“Your father had stolen from the company.”
“That's what Arthur says.”
“Financial records support it.”
Riley looked away.
Elena slid a photograph across the table.
It showed Martin Parker standing beside Charles Voss outside an office building.
Riley stared.
“Where did you get that?”
“Do you recognize him?”
Riley nodded.
“He came to our house when I was little.”
“What did he do?”
“I don't know.”
“Think carefully.”
Riley closed her eyes.
Then she whispered, “My mother was afraid of him.”
Elena leaned forward.
“Why?”
Riley's breathing quickened.
“Because he told her that if my father talked, none of us would be safe.”
Elena studied her.
“Did your mother ever mention Richard Adams?”
Riley opened her eyes.
“Yes.”
“What did she say?”
Riley's voice dropped.
“She said Richard was the man Charles answered to.”
That evening, Kira received a call from her mother.
“Sweetheart, you need to come to the hospital.”
Kira's heart stopped.
“Why?”
“It's Grandpa.”
She was already reaching for her keys.
“What happened?”
Her mother's voice broke.
“He collapsed.”
Kira barely remembered the drive.
When she reached the hospital, her father was standing outside the emergency department.
His face was gray.
“Dad?”
Daniel Lawson embraced her.
“He's stable.”
Kira sagged with relief.
“What happened?”
“His blood pressure dropped. They think the stress contributed.”
“Can I see him?”
“Soon.”
Daniel hesitated.
“There's something else.”
Kira looked up.
“What?”
“Someone came to the house before he collapsed.”
“Who?”
Daniel swallowed.
“A man claiming to be an old business associate.”
Kira's pulse accelerated.
“Did he give a name?”
Her father nodded.
“Charles Voss.”
Kira stared.
“That isn't possible.”
Daniel reached into his pocket.
“He left this.”
It was a photograph.
Old.
Faded.
Taken outside a waterfront warehouse.
Arthur stood on one side.
Martin Parker stood on the other.
Between them was a younger Richard Adams.
And behind Richard, partially obscured, stood a woman holding a baby.
Kira turned the photograph over.
May you like
A handwritten message appeared.
Ask Arthur who the child really belongs to.
