Chapter 5 - REBECCA WANTED ME ASHAMED BEFORE SHE WANTED ME INFORMED
Rebecca requested a meeting.
Rachel advised against anything private.
So we met in a law office.
No mansion.
No security theater.
Rebecca wore navy instead of silver.
She looked less glamorous under fluorescent lights.
More dangerous.
“You look like Miriam.”
“That seems to bother your family.”
Her mouth tightened.
“I did not authorize what Tyler did.”
“Did you know he requested me for the party?”
“No.”
“Did you know he had a file about my mother?”
Pause.
“Yes.”
“Did you tell him?”
“I told him there was an unresolved legacy matter.”
“What does ‘legacy matter’ mean when normal people say it?”
Rachel almost smiled.
Rebecca did not.
She explained the Ashford Biologics sale.
Potential investors required title and trust representations.
Old participation rights created uncertainty.
Miriam’s claim needed resolution.
“So you planned to contact us?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“After the gala.”
“Interesting timing.”
Rebecca looked at me.
“I intended to make an offer.”
“How much?”
“Two hundred fifty thousand dollars.”
Mom’s possible interest could potentially be worth far more.
Nobody yet knew.
“What was the condition?”
“Full release.”
There it was.
Different generation.
Same strategy.
Pay enough to make a vulnerable woman disappear.
“Did you know my mother has cancer?”
Rebecca’s face changed.
“Yes.”
“How?”
“Tyler’s investigation.”
“And you still planned to offer her a fraction before independent valuation?”
“It was a settlement opening.”
“While she needs treatment.”
Rebecca said nothing.
I leaned back.
Then something struck me.
“You fired me.”
Her eyes narrowed.
“At the party.”
“You were employed through a contractor.”
“You ordered me removed and withheld my wages.”
“That is separate.”
“No.”
I finally understood.
“If I left humiliated, exhausted, desperate, then the next morning your family could approach me with money.”
Rebecca’s silence answered enough.
“You wanted me feeling small before you made the offer.”
“I did not tell Tyler to pour wine on you.”
“But you saw it.”
“Yes.”
“And your first response was to punish me.”
Rebecca looked down.
“I handled that badly.”
“That is what rich people call cruelty after lawyers review it.”
Rachel touched my arm.
Enough.
Then Rebecca said something surprising.
“Tyler does not want the trust resolved.”
“Why?”
“Because the Biologics sale is not the only thing connected to it.”
May you like
She looked directly at me.
“He thinks your mother can destroy his inheritance.”
