Chapter 3 - Gideon’s Signature
Gideon Shaw arrived at Vale House at 10:14 that night.
He was fifty-five, silver-haired, impeccably dressed, and far too calm.
By then the runway show was over.
Reviews had already begun appearing online.
Almost none discussed the clothes.
The story was Sophie.
The slaps.
The damaged gown.
Bianca’s abrupt disappearance from the finale.
Gideon entered Lucas’s executive conference room carrying a leather portfolio.
Bianca’s posture changed the moment she saw him.
Not relief.
Recognition.
Sophie noticed.
So did Lucas.
Gideon took a seat.
“I understand a document has surfaced.”
Lucas placed Celeste’s termination agreement on the table.
Gideon read it.
His expression barely moved.
“Where was this?”
“In Mom’s gown.”
“Inside it?”
“Yes.”
Gideon looked toward Sophie.
“That is unusual.”
“So is hiding a billion-dollar ownership problem in couture,” Sophie replied.
Gideon ignored the sarcasm.
“This appears to be an executed termination counterpart.”
Bianca spoke sharply.
“Which was superseded.”
Gideon looked at her.
Only for a fraction of a second.
But Sophie saw the warning.
Careful.
Lucas said, “Was the June 30 closing valid?”
“Yes.”
“Did Mom reinstate the transaction after June 18?”
Gideon folded his hands.
“The closing binder contains an executed waiver of termination.”
“Signed by Celeste?”
“Yes.”
“Did you witness it?”
“I supervised the transaction.”
“That isn’t an answer.”
Gideon smiled thinly.
“Lucas, you know how closing processes work. Hundreds of documents. Electronic counterparts. Counsel certifications.”
“Did you see my mother sign the reinstatement?”
“No.”
Sophie leaned forward.
“Who did?”
“Her transaction counsel.”
“Nora Kline?”
“No. Nora represented Celeste personally and objected to the sale.”
“Who?”
Gideon named an associate from his former legal department.
“Martin Bell.”
Lucas frowned.
“Where is he?”
“Denver, last I heard.”
Bianca interjected.
“This is becoming absurd.”
Sophie placed Celeste’s photograph beside Gideon.
“Why were you in the archive with my mother the day after she terminated the sale?”
He looked.
For the first time, his composure cracked.
“Where did you get that?”
“Answer.”
“I don’t remember every visit to the archive.”
“My mother wrote that you knew the sale was dead.”
Bianca said, “A dying woman wrote accusations.”
Sophie stood so quickly her chair rolled backward.
“Do not use her illness again.”
Lucas raised a hand.
“Sophie.”
She stopped.
Her palms were trembling.
She remembered Bianca falling beneath her second slap.
She hated that everyone now had a reason to doubt whether she could control herself.
So she sat.
Gideon noticed the restraint.
“That photograph proves nothing.”
Lucas said, “No. But it proves you were there.”
The phone rang.
Nora Kline.
Lucas put her on speaker.
Nora’s voice sounded wary.
“Lucas?”
“Nora, we found Mom’s June 18 termination of Bianca’s stock purchase.”
Silence.
Then:
“Where?”
Sophie answered.
“In the silver gown.”
Nora exhaled.
“Oh, Celeste.”
Bianca’s face hardened.
Lucas leaned closer to the phone.
“You knew?”
“I knew she wanted an original somewhere outside the legal department.”
“Did she terminate the sale?”
“Yes.”
The room went still.
Gideon’s jaw tightened.
Nora continued.
“I drafted the termination after Celeste discovered undisclosed related-party payments.”
Bianca snapped, “You had no role in the closing.”
“No,” Nora replied. “Because Celeste instructed me that there would be no closing.”
Gideon said, “And yet a closing occurred.”
“I know.”
Nora’s voice sharpened.
“That is why I demanded the board investigate after Celeste died.”
Lucas looked at Gideon.
“What investigation?”
Nora became quiet.
“Lucas, you never received my letter?”
“No.”
“I sent it to you and Gideon.”
Gideon looked down.
Sophie felt cold.
“When?”
“August 4. Two weeks after the funeral.”
Lucas’s expression darkened.
“I received nothing.”
Nora continued.
“I warned that Celeste had revoked the transaction and that any closing document claiming otherwise required independent verification.”
Lucas stared at Gideon.
“You suppressed it.”
“That is an accusation.”
“Where is the letter?”
Nora replied, “I have my copy and courier confirmation.”
Bianca pushed back her chair.
“This proves nothing about the eventual closing.”
Nora answered immediately.
“Then produce Celeste’s reinstatement.”
Gideon opened his portfolio.
He removed a copy.
A two-page waiver.
Celeste’s signature appeared at the bottom.
Sophie stared.
It looked real.
Bianca smiled.
“There.”
Lucas took the paper.
“What date?”
“June 26.”
Sophie’s mother had been hospitalized June 25 through June 28 for complications from chemotherapy.
“She signed this in the hospital?”
Gideon nodded.
“Electronically.”
Nora asked, “What signature platform?”
“ValeSign.”
Lucas frowned.
ValeSign was the company’s internal electronic-signature system.
Nora’s voice changed.
“Celeste never used ValeSign for personal equity documents.”
Gideon replied, “She did that week.”
“Then show the authentication log.”
Silence.
Lucas looked at him.
“Can you?”
“The archive should contain it.”
Sophie noticed Bianca glance toward Gideon.
That look was enough.
Lucas called the head of information security.
“Freeze every legal archive connected to the 2023 stock transaction. No deletions. No outside access.”
Gideon stood.
“You are overreacting.”
Lucas looked at him.
“If the waiver is genuine, logs will prove it.”
“And if records have aged out?”
“Then we keep digging.”
Bianca collected her bag.
“You cannot freeze my access. I control fifty-one percent of voting stock.”
Lucas held up the disputed document.
“Subject to challenge.”
“You are still my CEO.”
“For tonight.”
Bianca smiled without warmth.
“That can change.”
She left with Gideon.
Sophie watched them through the glass wall.
“They’re going to move.”
Lucas nodded.
“Before morning.”
“Then we move faster.”
Elena, who had remained in the hallway with the silver gown, entered quietly.
“I need to tell you something.”
Sophie turned.
“What?”
“Your mother made me promise never to open that lining unless the dress was damaged.”
Lucas stared.
“You knew something was inside?”
“No.”
Elena shook her head.
“She only told me that if anyone ever insisted the gown must not be worn, I should watch who tried hardest to stop it.”
Sophie looked toward the shredded silver fabric.
“So Bianca knew.”
“Maybe not what was hidden.”
Elena touched the cut edge.
“But she knew enough to be afraid.”
Then Lucas’s laptop chimed.
Vale House information security had replied.
The 2023 ValeSign authentication logs still existed.
Lucas opened the file.
Celeste’s alleged June 26 reinstatement had been authenticated with her executive credentials.
But the IP address did not belong to the hospital.
It belonged to Vale House headquarters.
More specifically:
The legal department.
And the device name attached to the login was:
May you like
GSHAW-LAPTOP-02.
Gideon’s computer.
