Chapter 8 - The Son He Used
Adam agreed to meet Daniel the following morning.
He did not tell Rebecca until afterward.
Daniel chose a private club near Central Park.
He was already seated when Adam arrived.
“Thank God.”
Daniel stood.
“I’ve been trying to reach you.”
Adam remained standing.
“You said you could explain my signature.”
Daniel’s face changed slightly.
“Sit down.”
“I’m fine.”
“Adam.”
“Explain it.”
Daniel glanced around.
“Your mother is turning a business matter into a family war.”
“Did you sign my name?”
“No.”
Adam stared at him.
Daniel hesitated.
“I authorized someone to execute certain documents on your behalf.”
Adam’s jaw tightened.
“That means yes.”
“No.”
“It means there was a technical authorization.”
“From me?”
Daniel said nothing.
Adam laughed bitterly.
“There was no authorization from me.”
“You are twenty-one.”
Daniel leaned closer.
“You don’t understand corporate finance.”
“I understand my own name.”
“Lower your voice.”
“No.”
Several people turned.
Daniel’s face hardened.
“Everything I did was for this family.”
“Was Chloe for the family too?”
Daniel froze.
Adam continued.
“Was her apartment for us?”
“Her jewelry?”
“The vacations?”
“Don’t talk about things you don’t understand.”
“I understand you cheated on Mom.”
“That marriage has been dead for years.”
“Then why didn’t you leave?”
Daniel looked away.
Adam knew the answer.
Because leaving Rebecca meant leaving the money.
“Did Mom know about Phoenix?”
Daniel’s eyes snapped back.
“Who told you that?”
“So it’s real.”
Daniel leaned across the table.
“Listen to me.”
“Phoenix would have made all of us wealthy.”
“We are already wealthy.”
“Not the way we could be.”
Adam shook his head.
“You were going to fire hundreds of people.”
“That’s business.”
“You were going to take eighteen million dollars.”
“That’s compensation.”
“You used my trust.”
“That money exists because of this family.”
“It exists because Grandpa left it to me.”
Daniel’s patience broke.
“Your grandfather would have had nothing if men like me hadn’t known what to do with money.”
Adam stared at him.
There was the Daniel Carter nobody saw in magazine photographs.
Entitled.
Bitter.
Certain every success belonged to him.
Daniel softened his voice.
“Your mother is angry.”
“She wants revenge.”
“She will destroy the company just to hurt me.”
Adam reached into his jacket.
He placed his phone on the table.
Daniel glanced at it.
“You recording me?”
“No.”
Adam lied.
Daniel relaxed slightly.
Adam continued.
“Did you approve my signature?”
Daniel rubbed his jaw.
“I approved whatever was necessary.”
“To use my trust?”
“To save the company.”
Adam stared at him.
“Without asking me.”
“I’m your father.”
“That isn’t permission.”
Daniel’s expression hardened again.
“You’re taking her side.”
“There shouldn’t be sides.”
“There are always sides.”
Adam stood.
“Then I choose the side where people don’t forge my name.”
Daniel grabbed his wrist.
“Sit down.”
Adam looked at his hand.
“Let go.”
Daniel released him slowly.
Adam walked away.
Outside, his hands shook.
He stopped beside a taxi and checked his phone.
The recording had worked.
Every word was there.
That evening, Adam entered Rebecca’s apartment.
She immediately knew something had happened.
“Where were you?”
“With Dad.”
Rebecca closed her eyes.
“Adam.”
“I recorded him.”
She looked at him.
Adam held out the phone.
“He admitted enough.”
Rebecca did not take it immediately.
“You shouldn’t have had to do that.”
“He made me.”
“No.”
Rebecca stepped closer.
“He made his choices.”
“You made yours.”
Adam looked at her.
“I want you to use it.”
Rebecca finally took the phone.
“For what?”
Adam’s eyes hardened.
“To stop him.”
Rebecca pressed play.
Daniel’s voice filled the room.
I approved whatever was necessary.
Rebecca listened without moving.
Then came the words that changed everything.
To save the company.
Rebecca stopped the recording.
She looked toward Caroline.
“That wasn’t about saving the company.”
Caroline understood.
“It was about Phoenix.”
Rebecca nodded.
May you like
Daniel had forged his son’s signature to complete a secret sale.
And now they finally had his own voice connecting him to it.
