Chapter 8 - The Wolf In Borrowed Wool
Penelope rose from her seat, trembling violently, her face wet with genuine tears of panic. ""Rosalind... sister, please! You don't understand! Garrett forced me! He told me if I didn't help him, he would ruin me! He threatened my baby!""
I turned my head slowly, looking at my half-sister. For years, I had defended her against our family’s skeptics. I had given her a luxury penthouse, an executive salary at the shipyard, and treated her child as if it were my own future niece or nephew.
""Your baby, Penelope?"" I said, pulling a folded stack of medical records and private investigation photos from my leather portfolio and throwing them onto the center of the table. ""You mean Garrett's baby? The child you conceived in the penthouse suite of the Savannah Regency six months ago, while I was lying in bed at home, poisoned by digitalis and wondering why my body was failing?""
The board members gasped. Marcus Sterling snatched the papers from the table, his eyes widening in fury as he scanned the dates, the photographs of Garrett entering Penelope’s private residence, and the ultrasound scans bearing both their names.
""You treacherous little viper,"" Marcus hissed, glaring at Penelope with unbridled rage. ""Your father brought you into this family when your own mother abandoned you! He gave you his name!""
""He gave me his crumbs!"" Penelope screamed, her poise completely shattering into hysterics. ""He gave Rosalind fifty-two percent! He gave Tobias the family trust! What did he give me? A ten percent allowance! I am a Hart just as much as they are! I deserved half of this company! Garrett promised me what was rightfully mine!""
""Garrett promised you a cell next to his,"" Tobias said coldly.
Garrett had scrambled back to his feet, blood dripping from the corner of his split lip where my ring had caught his mouth. He looked around the room like a cornered animal, realizing that every board member was now looking at him with utter revulsion.
He lunged for the leather folder containing the conservatorship paperwork and the naval contract. ""None of this matters! I have the power of attorney! I have the emergency decree signed by Judge Bradley! Until a court officially revokes it, Rosalind's signatures belong to me! I am executing this contract right now!""
He snatched the gold pen from the floor, his hands shaking violently as he tried to bring the nib to the signature line.
""Try to sign it, Garrett,"" Tobias said, not making a move to stop him. ""Go ahead. Sign your name to a naval defense subcontract using forged conservatorship documents based on a fraudulent death certificate. That changes the charge from state-level attempted murder to federal defense procurement fraud and treason.""
Garrett's hand froze an inch above the parchment.
""And while you're holding that pen,"" I added, walking slowly around the perimeter of the table until I stood directly behind his chair, ""you might want to explain to the board why the aircraft wire used to tie my seat belt mechanism last night matches the exact serial number of the spool purchased on your corporate credit card three days ago from the Savannah Marina Supply.""
Garrett dropped the pen. It rolled off the table again, landing with a dull thud on the floor.
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""You can't prove that,"" Garrett stammered, his eyes darting frantically toward the door. ""You can't prove anything. It was an accident. The car skidded. The wire was... it was maintenance scrap that got caught in the chassis...""
""We don't have to prove it to the board, Garrett,"" Tobias said, pointing toward the elevators. ""We already proved it to the men coming up the hall.""
