Chapter 5 - The Glass Estate
Two weeks later, the physical wounds had begun to heal into faint, silvery lines, but the psychological landscape of my life had changed entirely. I stood on the floor-to-ceiling cedar deck of the Glass Estate, my grandfather's gift on the northern cliffs. Below, the grey Atlantic waves crashed against the black rocks, their rhythmic roar providing a beautiful, white-noise soundtrack to my new reality.
In my arms, Eli snuggled against my chest, his warm, tiny breaths puffing against my neck. He was safe. He was warm. And he would never know the conditional, cannibalistic love of the women who had raised me.
"The movers confirmed the Vance family home is completely cleared out," Sarah said, stepping onto the deck with a legal folder. "Your mother and sister left the place in a state of vandalism. They smashed the chandeliers and spray-painted the walls. The local police took photos for the property damage lawsuit Grandfather is pursuing."
"Let them play their petty games," I said, kissing the top of Eli’s soft head. "Where are they staying?"
"A low-end extended-stay motel near the airport," Sarah replied, a small, satisfied smirk playing on her lips. "Chloe tried to apply for a luxury apartment downtown using your name as a guarantor, but the firm's compliance department flagged it immediately. Her credit score is in the low four-hundreds without your financial backing. They are trapped, Avery. And the bills are mounting."
"Good," I said, looking out at the endless horizon. "But Eleanor isn't the type to starve in silence. She’s going to look for a backdoor into the Vance fortune. What’s the status of the proxy votes Grandfather transferred to me?"
May you like
Sarah’s face turned serious. "That’s the catch. The annual shareholder meeting is in three weeks. To solidify your position as the head of the trust management board, you need the majority vote from the senior partners. Eleanor has already started reaching out to the old board members—the ones who still remember your father. She’s telling them you used elder abuse and coercion to force Grandfather into signing over the deed."
I looked down at the folder. My mother thought she could use my father’s ghost to fight me in the boardroom. She forgot that I was the one who went to law school.
