Chapter 16 - THE DAUGHTER NOBODY KNEW
The beneficiary was not Charlotte.
It was Victoria Monroe.
Charlotte almost laughed when she learned.
Her mother had transferred a small voting block to Victoria for one purpose:
Protect the Monarch if the Bennett family turned against itself.
Victoria had been holding the deciding vote all along.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because Elizabeth told me not to.”
Charlotte’s frustration exploded.
“My entire family is addicted to secrets.”
Victoria nodded.
“That is a fair criticism.”
“Will you vote with me?”
Victoria hesitated.
That frightened Charlotte more than an immediate no.
“I want one condition.”
“What?”
“Sabrina receives no special protection.”
Charlotte stared.
“She is your daughter.”
“Yes.”
“And she committed crimes.”
“She should face what she did.”
Charlotte understood.
Perhaps accountability was hereditary too.
“And Ryan?”
Victoria asked.
“What about him?”
“Will you protect him?”
“No.”
“Even if his testimony helps you?”
“He can cooperate.”
“He can receive whatever consideration prosecutors decide.”
“But I will not buy his freedom.”
Victoria nodded.
“Then you have my vote.”
They had seventy-five percent.
Adrian’s merger was dead.
Unless he could invalidate Charlotte’s position before the vote.
His final weapon arrived at midnight.
Divorce papers.
Filed by Ryan.
Charlotte stared at them.
Marcus frowned.
“Why would Ryan file first?”
Then he saw the accompanying petition.
Ryan claimed a marital interest in Charlotte’s Bennett shares.
If the court recognized even temporary joint ownership, the trust vote could be frozen.
Charlotte looked at the signature.
Ryan Collins.
Her husband had betrayed her again.
She called him.
He answered.
“You filed.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Read page forty-seven.”
She did.
Buried inside the petition was a request for immediate independent valuation of every Bennett-related marital asset.
Including any hidden agreements between Adrian and Ryan.
Charlotte understood.
“You’re forcing discovery.”
“Yes.”
“You filed against me to get Adrian’s documents into court.”
“Yes.”
“You could have warned me.”
“He would have known.”
Charlotte closed her eyes.
“You are unbelievably exhausting.”
Ryan laughed quietly.
“I’ve heard that.”
“This does not change the divorce.”
“I know.”
“Do you?”
“Yes.”
The sadness in his voice sounded real.
Then he said:
“Page fifty-two.”
She turned.
Ryan had waived any claim to Charlotte’s inherited Bennett shares.
Every one.
He was asking the court to confirm he owned none of them.
The marital-interest argument was bait.
Adrian had already filed an objection revealing confidential agreements he otherwise would have kept hidden.
Ryan had sacrificed his only plausible claim against Charlotte to expose the man who built his career.
For the first time, he had chosen truth knowing it would cost him money.
May you like
It did not make Charlotte love him again.
But it was the first decision he had made in years that she respected.
