Chapter 4 - The Hidden Clause
That evening, I was in my penthouse, watching Lily sleep in a guest bedroom that was larger than the apartment she had lived in her entire life. Her purple sneakers were neatly lined up by the door.
My phone rang. It was my private attorney, Marcus.
"Alexander, we have a massive problem," Marcus said, his tone urgent. "Victor filed an emergency injunction with the probate court this afternoon. He dug up your father's original operating agreement."
"What did he find?"
"There's a morality and succession clause," Marcus explained. "If an undisclosed direct heir is discovered, the company's controlling shares are placed into a blind trust until the heir turns eighteen. But more importantly, the board has the right to appoint a conservator to manage those shares. Victor is petitioning the court to be Lily's legal and financial conservator."
My blood ran cold. "If he gets conservatorship, he controls her shares. Combined with his, he has a majority. He can vote me out as CEO and liquidate the company."
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"Worse," Marcus said softly. "If he proves you are an unfit guardian—a bachelor billionaire with no parenting experience who works eighty-hour weeks—the family court might award him full physical custody of the girl to 'protect her assets.'"
Victor wasn't just trying to steal my company. He was trying to take my sister.
