Chapter 9 - THE HIDDEN TRUST
The document Clara had left behind changed the way we understood Blackwood Manufacturing.
For three days, Arthur, Maya, and I worked through every page in the storage unit.
There were corporate records.
Private correspondence.
Bank statements.
Handwritten notes.
And evidence that Richard Blackwood had been moving money through private trusts for decades.
One trust appeared repeatedly.
The Blackwood Family Trust.
I had never heard of it.
Neither had the board.
Neither had the company's auditors.
But it existed.
And it held assets worth tens of millions of dollars.
Maya stared at one document.
“Evelyn.”
“What?”
“You need to look at this.”
She turned the page.
The beneficiary designation had been changed seven years earlier.
The new beneficiary was:
Daniel Blackwood.
I felt sick.
“Why would he need this?”
“Because this trust was designed to protect family assets from creditors.”
Arthur nodded.
“Richard created it before Daniel became CEO.”
“Meaning?”
“Meaning the family was planning for failure.”
I stared at the documents.
“They knew the company was in trouble.”
Arthur was silent.
“You knew?”
“I suspected.”
I turned toward him.
“You knew?”
“I knew Richard was hiding something.”
“You didn't tell Clara?”
“I did.”
“Then why didn't she tell me?”
Arthur lowered his eyes.
“Because she was afraid.”
“Of what?”
“That the Blackwoods would attack your inheritance if they knew the truth.”
I looked at the trust records.
“So Clara protected me.”
“Yes.”
The question became obvious.
Why had Daniel never accessed the trust?
Because the beneficiary status required approval from the family trustees.
And I controlled the company.
Daniel needed me gone before he could control the structure.
Everything he had done suddenly made more sense.
The insults.
The manipulation.
The custody of my voting shares.
The violence.
He had not simply wanted a divorce.
He wanted to remove the one person standing between him and the hidden assets.
But there was another problem.
The trust still existed.
And someone had recently accessed it.
Maya showed me the records.
“Two weeks ago.”
I frowned.
“That was after Daniel's conviction.”
“Yes.”
“Who accessed it?”
A shell company.
The owner was hidden.
But the bank information led us to an offshore entity.
And the authorized representative was—
Patricia Blackwood.
I laughed bitterly.
“She's still trying.”
“Apparently.”
We contacted the bank.
They refused to discuss the account without a court order.
So Maya obtained one.
The results were shocking.
Patricia had been attempting to transfer the assets into a new trust.
A trust controlled by a man named Victor Sloan.
I didn't recognize him.
Arthur did.
“He's a restructuring specialist.”
“Meaning?”
“He buys distressed companies.”
I looked at Maya.
“He wants Blackwood.”
“Apparently.”
The next morning, Victor Sloan requested a meeting.
He arrived at headquarters in a charcoal suit and carried himself like a man who had already won.
“Mrs. Blackwood.”
“Mrs. Vance.”
He smiled.
“I'm here to discuss an opportunity.”
“I don't need one.”
“You may.”
He placed a proposal in front of me.
A massive capital injection.
Debt restructuring.
Expansion.
International markets.
It looked excellent.
Too excellent.
I read the final page.
The controlling shares would be transferred to his investment group if certain financial conditions were not met.
“You're asking me to put the company at risk.”
“I'm offering you protection.”
“No.”
His smile faded.
“Think carefully.”
“I already did.”
He stood.
“Your company's liabilities are larger than you know.”
I stared at him.
“What liabilities?”
He smiled again.
“Ask your aunt.”
My blood ran cold.
“Clara is dead.”
“I know.”
He walked to the door.
“Then ask the person she trusted most.”
The door closed.
I looked at Arthur.
He looked devastated.
“What did he mean?”
Arthur swallowed.
“Clara left me a message before she died.”
“What message?”
“She told me there might be a hidden liability attached to Nathaniel Cross.”
“The dead man?”
“Yes.”
“What liability?”
Arthur hesitated.
“An old acquisition.”
“What happened?”
“Blackwood acquired a small technology firm.”
“Twenty years ago.”
“Yes.”
“And?”
“The company was involved in a lawsuit.”
“What kind?”
Arthur looked at me.
“Intellectual property theft.”
I frowned.
“Blackwood lost?”
“No.”
“The case was settled privately.”
“Then why is it dangerous?”
“Because the settlement was never formally closed.”
I stared.
“How is that possible?”
Arthur's face was grave.
“Because the person who owned the stolen technology never accepted the settlement.”
“Who?”
Arthur handed me a file.
The name appeared on the cover.
ELIAS VALE.
I had never heard of him.
Maya searched the database.
Then she stopped.
“He's alive.”
I turned.
“Where?”
“Outside the country.”
Arthur closed his eyes.
“Then Victor Sloan isn't trying to buy Blackwood.”
“What is he trying to do?”
Arthur looked at me.
“He's trying to force the company into bankruptcy.”
I felt a chill.
“Why?”
“So someone can acquire it cheaply.”
“And who is the someone?”
Maya looked at the corporate registration.
She turned the screen toward me.
A company.
A holding company.
And at the top of its ownership structure was a trust.
The Blackwood Family Trust.
May you like
Someone inside the old family was trying to take back the company.
And they were getting closer.
