Chapter 2 - THE SILVER WATCH
“Your father didn’t step down, Adrian. He was forced out.”
The whispered words from the woman in the emerald green dress cut through the hum of the idling helicopter outside. Adrian stiffened, his eyes locking onto hers. Elena Vargas. She was the Sterling family’s most ruthless legal counsel and the one woman who had never bought into his act of playing the poor, struggling artist.
Behind them, Vanessa’s voice pitched into a hysterical, grating whine. “Adrian! Who is she? Where are you going?”
Adrian didn’t even turn around. The three years he had spent living in a cramped, drafty apartment with Vanessa, eating boxed mac-and-cheese and listening to her complain about his lack of ambition, felt like another lifetime. He offered his arm to Elena.
“Let’s go,” he said softly.
They walked through the heavy glass doors, the cold night air and the deafening roar of the helicopter rotors swallowing them. As they strapped into the leather seats of the chopper, Adrian looked down at the ballroom terrace. Vanessa was pressing her hands against the glass, her perfect makeup ruined by streaks of mascara, her eyes wide with the crushing realization of what she had just thrown away.
The helicopter banked sharply, leaving the sparkling city skyline behind.
Adrian loosened his tie, the modest fabric feeling like a noose. “Tell me what happened, Elena. The board was supposed to vote next month. Why the sudden succession?”
Elena didn’t speak right away. She reached into her emerald clutch and pulled out a heavy, tarnished silver pocket watch. Adrian’s breath hitched. He recognized the intricate engraving of a roaring lion on the casing. It belonged to his older brother, Julian.
Julian had been exiled from the family five years ago after a bitter falling out with their father. Adrian hadn’t spoken to him since.
“Julian sent this to your father’s office this morning,” Elena said, her voice barely audible over the hum of the engine. “It was delivered with a handwritten note.”
“Julian hates our father. He swore he’d never contact him again.”
“He didn’t have a choice,” Elena replied, her dark eyes flashing with a mix of exhaustion and fear. “Adrian, Julian has been missing for forty-eight hours. His offshore accounts were drained. His estate in Geneva is empty.”
Adrian felt a cold knot tighten in his stomach. The succession wasn’t a celebration. It was a cover-up. His father wasn’t retiring; he was panicking.
“And the board?” Adrian asked, his voice hardening.
“They know,” Elena said. “Half of them think your father had something to do with it to secure the family assets. The other half are ready to tear the company apart and sell it for scraps before the scandal breaks. They need a new face, Adrian. A clean one. That’s why they called you in tonight. You’re the sacrificial lamb.”
Adrian looked out the window. The sprawling, lit-up compound of the Sterling Estate was coming into view, nestled in the dark hills. He had run from this life to see if someone could love him without the Sterling billions. He had gotten his answer. But now, the family he had left behind was pulling him back into a nightmare.
Elena leaned closer, pressing the cold silver watch into his palm. “There’s something else,” she murmured. “I opened the watch casing. Julian didn’t just send it as a message to your father. He sent it to you.”
Adrian flipped the silver catch. The watch sprang open. Inside, tucked over the glass face, was a tiny, folded square of paper.
He unfolded it with trembling fingers. It was a crude, crayon drawing. A stick figure of a man holding hands with a much smaller stick figure. At the bottom, written in the shaky, uneven letters of a young child, were three words.
Uncle Adrian, help.
May you like
Adrian stared at the paper. “Julian didn’t have any children.”
Elena’s face was utterly pale. “That’s what your father wanted us all to believe.”
