Chapter 10 - Evelyn Hires Her Own Experts
Evelyn refused to panic.
That frustrated almost everyone.
Malcolm wanted immediate counterclaims.
Denise wanted a precise response.
The bank trustee wanted an emergency meeting.
Reporters had begun calling.
Evelyn wanted breakfast.
At 8:15 she sat in the sunroom eating oatmeal.
Malcolm paced.
“Mom.”
“Yes?”
“We have a hearing Friday.”
“I know.”
“Harrison is asking the court to limit your authority.”
“I know.”
“How are you eating?”
She looked at him.
“With a spoon.”
Nia, delivering coffee as part of a temporary household assignment Evelyn had specifically requested through Bellmont, tried not to laugh.
Malcolm glared at both women.
Evelyn pointed toward a chair.
“Sit.”
He sat.
She continued.
“I have spent four months being told I am unstable.”
Malcolm softened.
“I know.”
“I will not prove them right by becoming frantic because Harrison filed papers.”
Denise arrived twenty minutes later with a neurologist’s evaluation.
Evelyn had completed independent testing.
No evidence supported a diagnosis of dementia.
She had ordinary age-related lapses.
Nothing indicating inability to manage her affairs.
More importantly, the evaluator noted that repeated external misinformation could reasonably explain several disputed scheduling incidents.
Malcolm read the report.
Relief hit him.
Evelyn watched.
“You needed that more than I did.”
He looked ashamed.
“Maybe.”
She smiled.
“I was nervous too.”
That honesty mattered.
Evelyn was not fearless.
She simply refused to let fear become evidence against herself.
The legal response was straightforward.
Oppose emergency suspension.
Present independent medical evidence.
Provide manipulated invitations.
Provide security logs.
Provide Mara’s sworn statement regarding staged incidents.
Request removal of Harrison as trust counsel due to conflicts.
The bank co-trustee supported an independent fiduciary review.
Suddenly Harrison’s position looked weaker.
But Celeste remained publicly silent.
Too silent.
Then Meridian’s board received an anonymous package.
Inside were allegations against Malcolm.
Improper use of corporate staff at the mansion.
Undisclosed conflicts.
Emotional instability following the family dispute.
Favoritism toward Nia Brooks.
Malcolm stared at the last one.
“What?”
The allegation claimed Malcolm offered Nia a corporate job in exchange for testimony against Celeste.
He had done no such thing.
Nia had never worked for Meridian.
But optics were dangerous.
A CEO.
A young maid.
A major internal investigation.
Even innocent contact could be twisted.
Malcolm immediately told the board’s independent counsel everything.
Every conversation.
Every payment Bellmont received.
Every interaction at Cole House.
“Do you have personal contact with Ms. Brooks?”
“Only through the household and investigation.”
“Romantic?”
“No.”
“Financial assistance?”
“No.”
“Job offer?”
“No.”
“Promises?”
“No.”
The counsel nodded.
“Good.”
Malcolm understood the next step.
He asked Evelyn to stop assigning Nia to events where he might interact with her.
Not because Nia had done anything wrong.
Because protecting the integrity of her witness role mattered.
When Evelyn told Nia, she became angry.
“So I lose work again because Celeste lies?”
Evelyn looked at her.
“No.”
“Sounds like it.”
“Bellmont is moving you to other assignments at the same rate.”
Nia folded her arms.
“And you arranged that?”
“I requested it.”
“That feels like rich-people problem solving.”
Evelyn smiled.
“It probably is.”
Nia almost smiled back.
Then Evelyn became serious.
“You told the truth when it cost you.”
“Yes.”
“I do not want anyone claiming you told it because my son rewarded you.”
Nia understood.
She still hated it.
“Fine.”
“Good.”
Then Evelyn handed her an envelope.
Nia immediately stepped back.
“What is that?”
“Not money.”
Nia stared suspiciously.
“A letter.”
“For?”
“The scholarship office at Tennessee State.”
Nia blinked.
“I didn’t ask—”
“I know.”
“Mrs. Cole.”
“I am not offering you a scholarship.”
Nia relaxed slightly.
“I wrote a recommendation because you told me you intend to transfer next year.”
Nia stared.
“You barely know me.”
“I know you stood between me and the most powerful woman in the room when you thought I was simply an old lady.”
Nia looked down.
Evelyn added,
“You are free to throw it away.”
Nia took the envelope.
“I probably won’t.”
“Excellent.”
That relationship would remain separate from Malcolm.
Deliberately.
The next morning, the anonymous accusations against Malcolm were traced to a public-relations firm.
The firm had been hired by a holding company.
The holding company’s manager:
Harrison Vale’s adult son.
Malcolm stared at the report.
“This is getting stupid.”
Independent counsel answered,
“Stupid behavior still needs documentation.”
Then another piece arrived.
The PR firm had prepared two media strategies.
One portraying Evelyn as confused.
The other portraying Malcolm as emotionally compromised by defending her.
Celeste’s plan had layers.
If Evelyn resisted, attack competence.
If Malcolm defended Evelyn, attack judgment.
If Nia supported either, attack credibility.
Nobody was supposed to be allowed a neutral motive.
Malcolm looked at the plan.
Then smiled for the first time.
“Good.”
Counsel frowned.
“What’s good?”
“They’re overreaching.”
A sophisticated strategy had become desperate.
Desperate people made mistakes.
And Celeste had just made the biggest one.
She had turned a private family dispute into a documented campaign against the sitting CEO of a public company.
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The board could no longer treat it as romance gone wrong.
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