Chapter 11 - Shadow of the Will
Emma stood completely still as the snow dusted her shoulders. Sora's presence didn't just upend the chessboard; it reduced Emma's victory over Richard to a mere formality orchestrated by the patriarch himself.
"A secret will?" Emma demanded, keeping her voice steady despite the sickening drop in her stomach. "Richard is alive and in jail. A will isn't valid."
Sora let out a soft, icy laugh.
"Under ordinary law, no. But for the shadow board of Carter Holdings—the one that operates out of Zurich and Singapore—Richard's criminal incapacitation triggers a succession clause by engineered ruin. Dad knew that only an heir cold-blooded enough to destroy him would possess the necessary skill to protect the true capital."
"I don't want his money, or his company," Emma fired back, taking a step away. "Everything I did was just to get rid of you people."
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"Too late, Emma." Sora stepped forward, holding out an envelope stamped with the seal of a Swiss law firm. "The moment you handed those files over to the prosecutor, you triggered the transfer of 40% of the voting shares into your name. The other half is mine. If we don't present ourselves to the board together this Friday, the company goes into forced liquidation, and the government will seize every last dime of your trust fund."
Emma stared at the envelope. Richard's trap was flawless: to keep the freedom she thought she'd just won, she had to walk right into the cage.
