Chapter 9 - The Lock Combination
Ethan knelt before the iron safe, his fingers gripping the brass dial. He spun it quickly to the right, then to the left, pausing at the numbers of their father’s birthdate.
CLICK. CLICK.
He pulled the handle. It didn't move.
BEEP. RED LIGHT.
“It’s not his birthday,” Ethan muttered, frustration creeping into his voice. He tried his own birthdate, then Sophia’s.
BEEP. RED LIGHT.
“Try my birthday,” Emma suggested quietly, stepping up beside him. “December 14th, 2000.”
Ethan looked up at her, hesitated, then turned the dial: 12 - 14 - 00.
CLICK. GREEN LIGHT.
The heavy iron door swung open smoothly.
Inside lay a single leather-bound binder stamped with the golden seal of the Sterling Family Trust, alongside a small velvet box and a thick stack of cassette tapes labeled with dates spanning from 1999 to 2005.
Ethan reached in and pulled out the binder, opening it under the desk lamp.
Emma and Sophia leaned over his shoulders, scanning the legal pages. There, printed in clear black ink on official parchment, were the exact terms of their father’s final testament:
“Upon my death, 51% of all voting shares in Sterling Logistics shall be transferred immediately to my biological daughter, Emma Sterling. In the event of her incapacitation or death prior to her 27th birthday, said shares shall revert to my sister, Clara Sterling.”
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Emma gasped, her hand flying to her mouth. “It was never about Sophia... Sophia was just the obstacle standing in the way of Clara reading this will!”
“No,” Sophia said softly, pointing a pale finger at the second clause on the page. “Look at the date, Emma. This will was filed two weeks ago. Clara found out about it through Father’s lawyer. She poisoned me first to frame Ethan, knowing that if Ethan went to prison for my murder, you would be left completely unprotected!”
