Chapter 9 - The Man Who Wrote the RulesAdrian ran.
Richard shouted after him.
Scarlett followed.
By the time Adrian reached Vivian's office, smoke had begun curling through the doorway.
He shoved it open.
Edmund Shaw stood beside the fireplace.
The red folder was already burning.
“Stop!”
Edmund looked at him calmly.
“You've always had your father's temper.”
Adrian crossed the room and pulled the folder from the flames.
Paper edges burned his hand.
He dropped it onto the marble hearth and stamped out the fire.
Scarlett entered.
“You forged the amendments.”
Edmund smiled.
“I improved them.”
Vivian arrived behind her.
“You.”
Edmund looked at her.
“Vivian.”
She seemed genuinely shaken.
“You sent the message to Lucas.”
“Yes.”
“You changed the trust papers.”
“Yes.”
“You gave Noah the medical records?”
“No.”
Noah stood safely down the hall with Marcus, but his discovery had started everything.
Adrian looked at Edmund.
“Why?”
The old man walked toward the desk.
“Because the Sterling family has become weak.”
Richard entered slowly with his cane.
Edmund's expression changed.
“Richard.”
“Disappointed?”
“Surprised.”
“You tried to have me killed.”
Edmund shook his head.
“No.”
Richard laughed.
“Samuel Pike worked for you.”
“He worked for Sterling Holdings.”
“You paid him.”
“Your father paid him.”
Everyone went silent.
Richard stared.
“My father ordered the boat explosion?”
Edmund looked almost sad.
“He wanted you removed.”
“Why?”
“You intended to expose the political accounts.”
Richard's jaw clenched.
Edmund continued.
“Your father considered that betrayal.”
Catherine entered.
“And you helped him.”
“I protected the company.”
Adrian laughed bitterly.
Apparently that phrase was hereditary too.
“Everyone commits crimes to protect this company.”
Edmund looked at him.
“And yet every generation enjoys the money.”
That landed harder than Adrian wanted.
Edmund pointed toward the ballroom.
“The mansion.”
“The schools.”
“The private jets.”
“The foundations.”
“None of you questioned the source until morality became fashionable.”
Scarlett said:
“That doesn't justify anything.”
“No.”
Edmund smiled.
“But hypocrisy deserves accurate labeling.”
Vivian stepped closer.
“What do you want?”
Edmund looked at her.
“For the first time in your life, you aren't in control.”
Vivian's face tightened.
“You forged documents to create a succession war.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“To force disclosure.”
Adrian stared.
“Disclosure of what?”
“All of it.”
Edmund gestured toward the burned papers.
“Richard's survival.”
“Scarlett's parentage.”
“Lucas's adoption.”
“Noah's conception.”
“The illegal accounts.”
Adrian frowned.
“You wanted us to discover the truth?”
“I wanted the family to destroy itself.”
Silence.
Scarlett stared.
“Why?”
Edmund's calm expression finally cracked.
“Because my son died for Sterling Holdings.”
Nobody spoke.
Adrian didn't know Edmund had a son.
Edmund continued.
“Thomas Shaw.”
Richard went pale.
“I remember.”
Vivian looked away.
Adrian saw it.
“What happened?”
Edmund's voice became quieter.
“Twenty-six years ago, Thomas discovered the offshore payment network.”
Richard whispered:
“After my disappearance.”
“Yes.”
“He threatened to go federal.”
Adrian felt cold.
“What happened?”
Edmund looked at Vivian.
She shook her head.
“No.”
“What happened?” Adrian repeated.
Edmund answered:
“He died in a warehouse fire.”
Scarlett covered her mouth.
Adrian looked at Vivian.
“Did you have something to do with it?”
“No.”
Edmund laughed.
“She didn't start the fire.”
Richard stared.
“Who did?”
Edmund looked toward Catherine.
Catherine went pale.
“No.”
Adrian turned.
Catherine backed away.
“It was an accident.”
Edmund's face hardened.
“You locked the door.”
Richard whispered:
“Catherine?”
She started crying.
“He attacked me.”
“What?”
“He found me copying files.”
Edmund stared.
“You were destroying files.”
Catherine shook her head.
“I was trying to keep Father out of prison.”
“So you locked Thomas in the records warehouse.”
“He said he would expose everything!”
Richard's face collapsed.
“And the fire?”
“I didn't start it.”
Edmund nodded.
“No.”
Catherine cried harder.
“But you left him there when the alarm began.”
Silence.
Adrian felt sick.
Catherine whispered:
“I panicked.”
Edmund's voice broke for the first time.
“My son burned because your family protected itself.”
Vivian whispered:
“Edmund…”
“Don't.”
His hands shook.
“For twenty-six years, I maintained your trusts.”
“Defended your lawsuits.”
“Protected your assets.”
“All while waiting.”
Adrian stared.
“Waiting for what?”
“For a generation worth saving.”
Edmund looked at Noah down the hallway.
Adrian immediately moved between his son and the office.
“Don't look at him.”
Edmund smiled sadly.
“He may be the only innocent Sterling in this house.”
“He's seven.”
“Exactly.”
Adrian's pulse rose.
“What were you planning?”
Edmund looked toward the trust documents.
“If you signed Vivian's amendment, I would release the evidence proving it fraudulent.”
“Why?”
“Vivian would be removed.”
“And then?”
“Scarlett would challenge.”
Scarlett shook her head.
“I wouldn't.”
“You would after learning what Vivian did to you.”
“No.”
“Lucas would challenge you.”
Adrian understood.
Chaos.
Litigation.
Public exposure.
Every family secret pulled into court.
Sterling Holdings collapses.
Edmund didn't want control.
He wanted demolition.
“You used Noah.”
Edmund's face changed.
“I did not tell Vivian to lock him outside.”
“But you gave her documents knowing she'd panic.”
“I underestimated her.”
Adrian moved closer.
“My son nearly got hypothermia because of your revenge.”
Edmund looked toward Noah.
For the first time, shame appeared.
“That was not intended.”
Adrian's voice lowered.
“Everybody keeps saying that tonight.”
The room went quiet.
Marcus suddenly called from the hallway.
“Adrian.”
Something in his voice made Adrian turn.
Noah was holding his stomach.
His face had gone pale.
Adrian rushed to him.
“What hurts?”
“My tummy.”
Marcus touched his forehead.
“When did you eat?”
Noah held up the remaining bread.
“Only this.”
Marcus frowned.
“Where did you get it?”
Noah looked toward Vivian.
“Grandma's office.”
Vivian stared.
“I didn't give him bread.”
Noah shook his head.
“The man did.”
Everyone turned toward Edmund.
He went white.
“No.”
Adrian stood.
“You gave him this?”
Edmund approached carefully.
“Noah, where did you get that?”
“You gave it to me.”
Edmund looked genuinely confused.
“No, I didn't.”
Noah frowned.
“The man with the lion ring.”
Edmund slowly raised his hand.
The gold lion ring gleamed.
Noah shook his head.
“Not you.”
Silence.
Richard stared.
“What?”
Noah pointed toward the hallway.
“The other man.”
Adrian felt his skin turn cold.
“There was another man wearing that ring?”
Noah nodded.
Edmund looked down at his own ring.
Then whispered:
“There were two.”
Richard's face changed.
“My father had a duplicate made.”
“For whom?” Adrian asked.
Edmund looked toward Vivian.
She stared back.
Neither spoke.
Then Vivian whispered:
“For his illegitimate son.”
Adrian's heartbeat stopped.
“What son?”
Edmund closed his eyes.
“The child Richard Sterling Sr. never acknowledged.”
Richard looked horrified.
“My father had another son?”
“Yes.”
“Who?”
Edmund's answer came quietly.
“Samuel Pike.”
The mechanic who sabotaged Richard's boat.
The man everyone believed had disappeared.
May you like
And according to Noah—
he had been inside Sterling Manor tonight.
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