Chapter 10 - Harrison made his offer
Harrison requested to speak through attorneys.
Not directly.
His proposal was simple.
Money.
Enough to make me wealthy.
Enough for Lily never to worry about anything.
In exchange, I would decline cooperation in certain civil matters, keep family records private where legally possible, and publicly describe the hospital confrontation as a misunderstanding.
I laughed when my attorney read it.
Then stopped when I saw the number.
Twenty-five million dollars.
Dad looked at me.
“Whatever you choose—”
“No.”
I didn’t need time.
Because attached to the offer was language regarding Lily.
A trust.
Controlled partly by Vance representatives.
Even their apology was another attempt at ownership.
“No.”
My attorney nodded.
Then asked whether I wanted to counter.
“Yes.”
Harrison’s lawyers expected money.
My counter demanded preservation of records.
No contact with Lily.
No control over any trust.
Full disclosure of communications relating to me, Dad, and custody planning, subject to lawful discovery processes.
They rejected it.
Good.
That told us what they valued.
Records.
Then Marcus attempted another tactic.
A letter.
Emily,
My father manipulated both of us.
I love you.
I was under pressure.
I never intended to hurt Lily.
Please remember who I was before all this.
I read it once.
Then handed it to my lawyer.
The Marcus “before all this” had researched my father before meeting me.
There was no before.
Then came a development nobody expected.
Leonard Pierce disappeared.
The family attorney missed a scheduled interview.
His office had been emptied.
His phone turned off.
His wife claimed she had not seen him.
Two days later, his car was found at an airport parking garage.
No Leonard.
But inside the trunk investigators found a sealed envelope addressed to:
Thomas Grayson.
Dad opened it with authorities present.
One sentence:
Harrison didn’t order April nineteenth.
Dad frowned.
May you like
Below it:
Ask who changed the convoy route.
