Chapter 6 - The Investigator's Trail
The neon signs of downtown Chicago flickered through the rain-streaked windows of a dim, smoke-filled archive office.
Private investigator Silas Vance—no relation to Marcus—slid a thick manila folder across the sticky wooden table toward Richard Sterling. Silas had spent twenty years digging up dirt for elite corporate families, and he knew how to find skeletons buried deep beneath concrete.
Richard eagerly flipped open the folder, his eyes scanning the yellowed paper documents and digital printouts.
"Is this authentic, Silas?" Richard whispered greedily, his heart racing. "Are you sure about this?"
"100 percent verified," Silas muttered, taking a long drag from his cigarette. "Sarah Harrison didn't just run away with a penniless architect fifteen years ago. She married a man named David Vance—unrelated to me—who was secretly under federal investigation for securities fraud and embezzlement against Harrison Holdings itself."
Richard’s eyes widened with malicious delight. "Embezzlement against my uncle’s company? That means the money David spent eloping with Sarah... it belonged to the Harrison estate in the first place?"
"Precisely," Silas nodded. "And under the old statutes of the family trust, any direct descendant who marries an indicted felon and absconds with corporate capital forfeits their inheritance rights entirely. Unless Arthur formally signs a retroactive pardon—which he hasn't—that little boy, Leo, is technically the legal heir to a bankrupt legacy, not a multi-billion-dollar empire."
Richard leaned back in his chair, a slow, triumphant grin spreading across his face. "Arthur thinks he can suspend me? He thinks he can throw me out like trash over a street urchin?"
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Richard slammed his hand down on the table. "We’re going to file an emergency injunction with the federal probate court tomorrow morning. By noon, the media will have the full story of the Harrison fugitive daughter and her illegitimate spawn."
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