Chapter 6 - The Trust AmendmentJonathan Mercer had been dead for eight years, but his signature was about to ruin the lives of both sons.
The original trust amendment arrived through a secure courier at Beatrix’s office at 9:10 p.m.
Alistair had not disappeared.
He had gone to retrieve it from a safe-deposit box under his attorney’s supervision after receiving threats he refused to describe over the phone.
Naomi wanted to be furious with him for causing unnecessary panic.
Then she saw the document.
The trust provision Roland planned to invoke upon the birth of his presumed child had been altered.
Not recently.
Seven years ago.
Three months before Jonathan Mercer’s death.
Beatrix read the paragraph twice.
“A biological child does not automatically enhance Roland’s voting authority.”
Alistair nodded.
“Not under this version.”
Naomi frowned.
“What does trigger it?”
“A legitimate descendant acknowledged by both independent trustees after verification.”
Beatrix tapped the page.
“And there’s another condition.”
Naomi read aloud.
“Any beneficiary who knowingly misrepresents parentage for the purpose of obtaining trust authority shall be suspended from voting pending trustee review.”
Roland could lose control if he knowingly lied.
But if Camille deceived him, that distinction mattered.
“Why didn’t Roland know about this amendment?” Naomi asked.
Alistair laughed bitterly.
“Because the version in our company records is different.”
Beatrix looked up.
“Different how?”
“The parentage-verification language is missing.”
Forgery.
Or substitution.
Naomi turned to the signature page.
Witnessed by Graham Vale.
Of course.
“Vale drafted both versions?” she asked.
“Apparently.”
Beatrix said, “Which one was filed with the trust administrator?”
“This one,” Alistair answered. “The real one.”
“Then the company has been operating from an inaccurate copy.”
“For years.”
Naomi walked toward the window.
Everything connected back to Vale.
The trust.
Northstar.
Halcyon.
Camille.
Roland.
“What did your father know?” Naomi asked.
Alistair looked away.
“More than he told us.”
“About Roland’s infertility?”
“I don’t know.”
Naomi turned.
“Think.”
Alistair hesitated.
“Our father was obsessed with heirs.”
“That’s not an answer.”
“When Roland and you started fertility treatments, Dad asked me once whether Roland had been tested.”
Naomi stared.
“When?”
“Before his stroke.”
“And what did you say?”
“I told him it was none of my business.”
“Did he seem surprised?”
“No.”
That mattered.
Jonathan might have known something about Roland’s condition.
Perhaps family medical history.
Perhaps not.
Beatrix closed the trust document.
“We should notify the trustees tonight.”
“No,” Alistair said quickly.
Everyone looked at him.
“If we do, Roland knows I have this.”
“He already knows you’re challenging him.”
“No. He thinks this is about Camille.”
Naomi narrowed her eyes.
“What else is it about?”
Alistair’s face tightened.
“You keep treating Roland like the only person capable of planning ahead.”
“Because so far you’ve admitted stealing corporate information, approving fraudulent-looking invoices, and sleeping with his fiancée.”
He flinched.
“Fair.”
“So surprise me.”
Alistair reached into his briefcase.
He produced an audio recorder.
Beatrix’s expression became cautious.
“Tell me that was legally obtained.”
“New York is a one-party consent state. I was present.”
He pressed play.
Camille’s voice filled the room.
“You’re panicking.”
Then Alistair.
“You said the child would protect us.”
Camille laughed softly.
“The child protects whoever knows what the trust actually says.”
Alistair’s recorded voice lowered.
“Roland thinks it gives him control.”
“Roland thinks whatever I need him to think.”
Naomi felt a chill.
The recording continued.
Alistair: “And Naomi?”
Camille: “Naomi is finished.”
Alistair: “You said that before.”
Camille: “Her company is the only obstacle left.”
The recording ended.
Naomi did not move.
Beatrix whispered, “Jesus.”
Asterline.
Halcyon had tried to buy it.
Mercer’s vendors used it.
Naomi’s compliance systems could detect exactly the kind of billing irregularities Northstar appeared to exploit.
Her company was not merely a valuable asset.
It was dangerous to them.
“What did she mean?” Naomi asked.
Alistair’s voice cracked.
“I didn’t know then.”
“When was this recorded?”
“Four months ago.”
“Before Camille became pregnant?”
“Just after she told me.”
Naomi looked at him.
“You already suspected you were the father?”
“Yes.”
“But you kept helping her.”
“I was trying to understand what she wanted.”
Naomi’s anger flared.
“By staying in her bed?”
“No.”
“Don’t insult me.”
“I stopped sleeping with her.”
“Eventually.”
He looked ashamed.
“Yes.”
Beatrix intervened.
“What did Camille mean by Naomi being the obstacle?”
Alistair shook his head.
“I think Halcyon wanted Asterline because your audit technology could expose the vendor scheme.”
Naomi nodded slowly.
“If they owned us, they could bury results.”
“And if they couldn’t buy you?”
“They could make Mercer stop using us.”
“But Mercer didn’t.”
“Because the audit contract requires board approval to terminate.”
Alistair looked at her.
“Unless Urban Development is sold.”
Naomi understood.
“If Halcyon buys the subsidiary, our contract terminates automatically after the change of control.”
Beatrix leaned back.
“So tomorrow’s transaction removes Asterline from the books they most need hidden.”
Naomi looked at the trust amendment.
The pregnancy gave Roland a reason to believe he would soon have more authority.
The sale removed Naomi’s oversight.
Northstar moved money.
Camille controlled Northstar.
Vale connected the legal structures.
But something still bothered her.
“Why would Camille send me that invitation?”
Alistair frowned.
“What?”
“If I’m an obstacle, why provoke me?”
“Because she hates you.”
“Hatred is emotional. This plan isn’t.”
Beatrix understood first.
“She wanted you to react.”
Naomi nodded.
“Publicly.”
Alistair’s eyes widened.
“If you caused a scene at the shower—”
“Roland could frame me as unstable. Vindictive. Obsessed.”
Beatrix added, “Potentially useful if they later challenged your credibility in a corporate dispute.”
Naomi thought of the handwritten message.
Sorry you couldn’t give him a son.
It had been designed to wound precisely enough that Naomi might bleed in public.
Instead, she had brought it to a lawyer.
Naomi almost smiled.
Camille had misunderstood one thing.
Pain had changed Naomi.
It had not made her reckless.
The office phone rang.
Beatrix answered.
A security guard downstairs spoke rapidly.
Beatrix’s face hardened.
“Do not let her up.”
She hung up.
“Camille is in the lobby.”
Alistair stood.
“What?”
Naomi remained seated.
“Why?”
“She says she needs to speak to Naomi.”
“Send her away,” Alistair said.
Naomi looked at Beatrix.
“Let her up.”
“Naomi—”
“She doesn’t know what we know.”
“That may not be true.”
“Then I want to find out what she thinks we know.”
Five minutes later, the conference-room doors opened.
Camille entered wearing an emerald maternity dress beneath a cream coat.
Her diamond engagement ring glittered under the lights.
She saw Alistair.
For one fraction of a second, her smile disappeared.
Then it returned.
“Wow,” Camille said.
Her gaze moved from Alistair to Beatrix to Naomi.
“Family meeting without me?”
Naomi folded her hands.
“You’re not family yet.”
Camille smiled.
“Tomorrow, that changes.”
Alistair’s face went rigid.
Naomi noticed Camille’s hand resting protectively over her stomach.
Not tenderly.
Possessively.
Camille sat opposite Naomi without invitation.
“I came to ask you not to ruin my baby shower.”
Naomi looked at her.
“You invited me.”
“I was being gracious.”
Naomi took the cream invitation from her handbag and placed it between them.
The handwritten insult faced upward.
Camille’s smile remained.
“Humor.”
“No,” Naomi said softly. “Humor requires an audience that laughs.”
Camille’s gaze hardened.
Then she leaned forward.
“You should be careful, Naomi.”
“About what?”
“Digging into things that no longer concern you.”
Naomi held her eyes.
“You mean Roland?”
Camille smiled.
“No.”
She glanced toward the trust document on the table.
Then back at Naomi.
“Your company.”
The room went still.
Naomi asked, “What about it?”
Camille’s smile widened.
“You built something beautiful.”
A beat.
“It would be a shame if people learned how you financed the beginning.”
Naomi felt a flicker of confusion.
Camille saw it.
And for the first time that night, her smile became genuine.
“You don’t know.”
Alistair whispered, “Camille, stop.”
She stood.
“No, she deserves to know eventually.”
Naomi rose too.
“Know what?”
Camille buttoned her coat.
“Ask yourself where Roland got the first two million dollars he invested in your dream.”
Naomi stared.
“Roland never invested in Asterline.”
Camille walked toward the door.
Then turned.
“That’s what your father told you.”
The door closed behind her.
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Naomi remained frozen.
Because her father had been the one person she had never thought to question.
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