Chapter 14 - The Hearing
The emergency hearing lasted six hours.
Victor sat beside Bell.
Claire sat beside Daniel.
Evelyn sat behind neither of them.
That mattered.
Daniel attacked the voting amendment first.
The notary’s expired commission did not automatically make Evelyn’s signature fake.
But the circumstances raised serious questions.
A handwriting expert testified the signature appeared genuine.
Then Daniel asked Evelyn to take the stand.
Victor’s attorneys objected repeatedly.
She testified anyway.
“Did you knowingly execute this amendment?” Daniel asked.
“No.”
“Could this be your signature?”
“It looks like mine.”
“How might Victor have obtained it?”
Evelyn closed her eyes.
“He brought me signature packets constantly after my husband died. Board consents. Foundation grants. Tax documents.”
“Did you sign blank signature pages?”
Bell objected.
The judge allowed the answer.
“Yes.”
The courtroom shifted.
Claire watched Victor.
He showed nothing.
Daniel moved to the redemption agreement.
The entire legal structure relied on Adrian dying during unauthorized misuse of the Raven.
But the Raven had remained in the estate vault.
The actual crash involved the silver prototype.
Internal calendars showed Adrian had scheduled authorized testing.
Naomi’s records supported it.
The judge appeared skeptical of Victor’s position.
Claire felt momentum changing.
Then Bell stood.
“We have evidence the silver vehicle was also unauthorized.”
He produced an internal test cancellation notice.
Signed by Adrian.
The test had been cancelled at 6:12 p.m.
If genuine, Adrian had driven anyway.
Claire’s stomach tightened.
Naomi whispered, “I’ve never seen that.”
The judge refused to invalidate the entire redemption arrangement at the emergency stage.
But she temporarily restrained final transfer of Adrian’s shares until a full evidentiary hearing.
A partial victory.
The Kronos sale itself could continue.
Victor still controlled the company’s other votes.
Outside court, reporters surrounded Claire.
“Mrs. Mercer, did your husband violate safety protocols?”
“Did he knowingly drive an unstable prototype?”
“Is this lawsuit about control of a billion-dollar estate?”
Victor emerged behind her.
“Claire.”
She turned.
He leaned close enough that microphones could not hear.
“You almost had me.”
“Not almost.”
His smile was tired now.
“You still think Adrian was the good brother.”
“I think Adrian made mistakes.”
Victor seemed surprised.
“He hid things from me. Protected you when he shouldn’t have. Thought he could control everything.”
Victor’s smile faded.
“You’re learning.”
“But none of his mistakes required you to steal.”
Victor’s eyes hardened.
“You think I stole Mercer Velocity?”
“You stole from it.”
“I built half of it.”
“Then you should have owned half legally.”
For the first time she struck the deepest wound.
Victor whispered, “Adrian made sure I never would.”
There it was.
Not money.
Not entirely.
Entitlement.
Inside the courthouse, Ortiz received the forensic report on the test cancellation notice.
The digital signature was genuine.
But the server log showed the notice had been created at 12:16 a.m.
Thirty-three minutes after the crash.
Someone backdated it to 6:12 p.m.
Who had Adrian’s signing certificate?
Victor.
Bell.
And Adrian himself.
Ortiz obtained a warrant for the certificate audit logs.
The access originated from Mercer Velocity headquarters.
At 12:16 a.m.
Using Victor’s executive terminal.
But Victor was at the crash site.
Someone had helped him.
Claire assumed Bell.
She was wrong.
Security video showed the person entering Victor’s office at 12:11.
Evelyn Mercer.
Claire stared at the footage.
Again.
Her mother-in-law had been at Victor’s office while Adrian lay dying.
Evelyn watched it too.
Then whispered:
“I don’t remember this.”
Claire’s patience snapped.
“You don’t remember?”
“I swear.”
“You just testified you signed papers without reading. Now you don’t remember using Victor’s computer the night Adrian died?”
Evelyn looked terrified.
“I wasn’t there.”
“The camera says you were.”
Victor had finally achieved something Claire had not expected.
May you like
He had made Evelyn look like a co-conspirator.
And if the evidence held, she might be one.
