Chapter 6 - The Corporate Takeover
Forty-eight hours after the aborted rehearsal dinner, the conference room on the top floor of my firm's downtown headquarters looked less like a legal battleground and more like a surrender ceremony.
The heavy glass doors opened, and Stellin walked in carrying a thick stack of notarized documents, followed by legal counsel who wouldn't even meet his eye. Althia and Sutton were nowhere to be found—reportedly holed up in a budget motel across town because their personal credit cards had been locked down by Vesper’s freeze order.
Vesper sat across the polished mahogany table, reviewing the paperwork with clinical precision.
""Every signature is verified,"" Vesper announced, sliding the portfolio toward me. ""The commercial property deed is transferred. The $24,500 resort charge has been refunded with triple punitive damages. And the court has granted a permanent restraining order preventing your parents and sister from contacting you, your business accounts, or your medical team ever again.""
I picked up the heavy metal-weighted fountain pen. My hand was steady. I signed my name across the legal lines—Fallon Carter, CEO & Principal Engineer—marking the official end of thirty-four years of emotional debt.
Stellin looked older, smaller, his expensive suit hanging loosely on his frame. He looked across the table at me, a pathetic mixture of regret and expectation in his eyes.
""Fallon... is there any way we can rebuild things? After all, family is—""
May you like
""Family doesn't try to cripple you for attention, Stellin,"" I interrupted, closing the folder with a sharp clack. ""You raised a monster, and you enabled her every step of the way because you cared more about status than your own children. Consider this the final invoice.""
He lowered his head, turned around, and walked out of the conference room without another word. The heavy glass doors slid shut behind him, sealing out the past forever.
