Chapter 5 - The Hearing
The emergency courtroom was smaller than Edward expected.
That made everything worse.
There was nowhere to look without seeing Celeste.
She wore navy.
No scarf.
No visible fear.
Naomi opened with the greenhouse evidence.
The manually released roof panel.
The duplicate keys.
The deleted footage.
The petition created twelve days before the incident.
Then Celeste’s lawyer, Martin Kessler, began.
He was excellent.
Edward hated him immediately.
“Mr. Vale is seventy-two years old,” Kessler said. “He manages a large estate, significant trust assets and full-time guardianship of a six-year-old child while also remaining deeply entangled in a corporate dispute.”
Naomi objected.
“Entangled because the petitioner created it.”
The judge overruled.
Kessler continued.
“This is not about whether Edward Vale loves Sophie. Of course he does. It is about whether love alone makes his current arrangement safe.”
He introduced Edward’s medication error.
The missed dental appointment.
A fall Edward had suffered on the west stairs.
A memory evaluation Celeste had encouraged him to take after Anna died.
Edward looked at Naomi.
“I passed that.”
“She omitted the conclusion.”
Naomi introduced it on cross.
Normal age-related changes.
No evidence of cognitive impairment.
Then Celeste testified.
She cried when discussing Anna.
Edward almost admired the performance.
“My sister made me promise to protect Sophie.”
Naomi stood.
“Did Anna make you that promise before or after recording a video accusing you of stealing from the company?”
Celeste’s lawyer shot up.
“Objection.”
The judge allowed limited questioning.
Celeste’s face did not change.
“My sister was dying.”
“Answer the question.”
“She was heavily medicated.”
“She identified six million dollars in payments to Verdant Restoration.”
“I don’t control Verdant.”
“You received $1.86 million from a related entity.”
“For consulting.”
“Consulting on the purchase of your own family company?”
Celeste’s jaw tightened.
Naomi placed the 2019 voting proxy on-screen.
“Did Anna sign this?”
“Yes.”
Edward looked at her.
So did Naomi.
“You’re under oath.”
“I know.”
“Anna recorded herself stating she did not.”
“She was confused near the end.”
“Do you have medical records establishing that Anna lacked capacity?”
“No.”
“Yet you want this court to believe every document that benefits you was signed when she was lucid and every accusation against you was made when she was confused?”
Kessler objected.
Sustained.
But the point had landed.
Then Sophie’s court-appointed guardian ad litem addressed the judge.
She had interviewed Sophie twice.
The child consistently reported that Celeste told her Edward was too old to keep her and Anna had wanted her gone.
That troubled the judge.
But the judge was also troubled by the unresolved sabotage investigation and the conflict between Edward’s role as guardian and his role in a corporate voting fight.
The ruling came at 4:18 p.m.
Edward would remain Sophie’s guardian.
He nearly collapsed with relief.
But a temporary independent corporate trustee would be appointed over the Vale Glass & Gardens shares until the fraud allegations were resolved.
Neither Edward nor Celeste would vote Sophie’s thirty-one percent.
Celeste’s immediate takeover failed.
But so did Edward’s control.
Outside the courthouse, Celeste approached him.
“You made Sophie’s life public.”
Edward stared at her.
“You filed the petition.”
“You could have settled.”
“By giving you her shares?”
“By protecting the company.”
“You mean selling it.”
She lowered her voice.
“You have no idea what happens if Sentinel walks.”
“What?”
“Ask Peter.”
She left.
Edward called the CFO from the courthouse steps.
Peter Lawson agreed to meet that evening.
Not at company headquarters.
At a roadside diner outside Charlottesville.
He arrived sweating despite the cold.
“You should never have called me from the office line.”
Edward stared at him.
“What happens if Sentinel walks?”
Peter looked around.
“Vale Glass & Gardens is overleveraged.”
“How overleveraged?”
“Twenty-two million.”
Edward’s stomach dropped.
“We have reserves.”
“Not anymore.”
“Where did they go?”
“Verdant. Failed hotel projects. Vendor advances.”
“Who approved them?”
Peter’s eyes filled with fear.
“Celeste.”
“Using Anna’s forged proxy.”
“Sometimes.”
“What does that mean?”
Peter rubbed his forehead.
“Sometimes she used yours.”
Edward went still.
“I never gave her a proxy.”
“No.”
Peter swallowed.
“But you gave her a scanned signature.”
Edward remembered years of holiday cards, board consents, personal notes.
His signature existed everywhere.
“How much money is missing?”
Peter whispered, “Nine point three million.”
Edward stared.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because I signed some of the transfers.”
“So you helped her.”
“I thought we were moving cash temporarily.”
“Then?”
“She threatened to make me the only person responsible.”
The same structure again.
Celeste compromised people, then owned their fear.
Peter slid a flash drive across the table.
“These are internal ledgers.”
Edward reached for it.
Peter stopped him.
“There’s something else.”
“What?”
“Anna found the missing money before she got sick enough to stop coming to the office.”
“I know.”
“No.”
Peter’s face had gone pale.
“She found a second account.”
“What account?”
“An escrow account holding eleven million dollars from the Richmond hotel sale.”
Edward felt cold.
“That money belonged to the company.”
“Yes.”
“Where is it?”
Peter looked at him.
“Celeste moved it three days after Anna died.”
“To Sentinel?”
“No.”
“Where?”
Peter whispered the answer.
“Into Sophie’s trust.”
Edward stared.
“That makes no sense.”
May you like
Peter shook his head.
“It will when you find out why.”
