Brother’s Love-Crazed, I’ll Seize the Company

Chapter 5

What happened in the afternoon was even more absurd.

My mother rarely attended company events, but that day, she sat beside the lake, drinking coffee while she watched others out on the water.

Isabella dragged Dominic to the water to feed the swans. Deciding that the safety net along the shore was getting in their way, she unfastened the entire barrier while the staff were distracted.

An unleashed husky burst from the nearby cottages and charged toward the lake. The swans scattered in panic, and one of them flew straight toward the viewing deck.

Startled, my mother stepped back. Her heel caught between the wooden boards, and she tumbled down the steps.

The entire area erupted in chaos and confusion.

I reached her first. Her right knee had struck the edge of a step and was already badly swollen. Cold sweat beaded at her temples.

An ambulance arrived quickly. The doctor said she had no broken bones, but the soft tissue around her knee was badly bruised. She would need at least 1 month of bed rest.

"Look into it," I ordered in the hospital corridor, keeping my voice low.

Every security manager could hear the fury beneath my controlled tone.

The truth came back quickly. Isabella had removed the safety net—because, she claimed, it stopped the swans from moving freely.

"Bring Ms. Crane to me."

Two security officers escorted Isabella into the hospital's private consultation room. She hunched her shoulders and, for once, looked frightened, though she was still muttering, "I didn't know this would happen. I only wanted the swans to..."

I rose, walked over, and looked down at her.

"You didn't know?"

My voice was soft enough that only she could hear it.

"When you removed the net, did you think about what would happen if someone fell into the lake? Did you think about the swans panicking and endangering everyone at the resort? Did it even occur to you that my mother was sitting right there?"

She stepped back with every question until her shoulders hit the wall.

"Enough!"

Dominic rushed in, shoved past the security officers, and pulled Isabella behind him.

He turned on me with open disgust in his eyes.

"I'm more worried about Mom than you are. I've already contacted the best specialist, and I'll take responsibility for everything. Stop using this accident as an excuse to attack Bella."

I stared at him.

"Mom is in the next room with an ice pack strapped to her leg. Tell me, what exactly am I using as an excuse?"

He ignored the question. Instead, he stepped closer and lowered his voice so only the three of us could hear.

"Camille, have you been enjoying all this attention lately? You took over the Varelia project. You stole the investor summit. Today, you strutted around the executive retreat as though you already controlled the company. Do you think that lockbox Dad gave you means you can threaten my position?"

My heart tightened.

'He knows about the lockbox. How?'

"You're imagining things," I said without expression.

"Am I?"

Dominic gave a scornful laugh. Beneath the contempt was something I had never seen in him before, something hard and vicious.

"There's nothing wrong with ambition. But flaunting yours while using your own brother as a stepping stone is disgusting."

The corridor fell silent. My assistant and the security officers stood frozen.

I looked at Dominic's face, so similar to mine, then at Isabella hiding behind him. Eventually, I gave a cold laugh.

"Then we'll see who wins."

I turned, opened the consultation room door, and walked toward my mother's room without looking back.

The executive retreat ended early.

On our second afternoon back at the office, I was meeting with the Legal Department when Graham entered and whispered something in my ear.

My hand froze around the pen.

That evening, Sterling Group's website switched to a monochrome memorial page.

At 8:00 p.m., the company published an obituary announcing that Richard Sterling, founder and chair of Sterling Group, had passed away due to illness.

I stood outside the morgue and watched a nurse draw the white sheet over my father's face.

I didn't cry. I forced every tear back.

Sterling Group couldn't go on without a leader.

The day after the obituary was released, the executive boardroom was full.

The door opened, and Dominic entered in a black suit. A sleepless night had left dark shadows beneath his eyes, but he carried himself with his usual authority.

Isabella followed in a black lace dress and an oversized black fascinator. Her solemn expression looked carefully rehearsed.

Dominic walked directly to the chair at the head of the table. It had remained empty since my father's health began to fail.

His hand had already closed around the back of the chair when he began, "Members of the Board, after my father's passing, I intend to step into the leadership role he prepared me for..."

"Wait."

I rose from my seat near the window. Every head turned toward me.

I wore a black suit and held the gray metal lockbox in my hands.

With a click, the lid opened. Inside was a legal folder containing a document signed by my father.

I opened it and turned it toward the room.

"Under Richard Sterling's will, I inherit the family's controlling stake. Under the succession plan already ratified by this Board, I will assume the position of chair of Sterling Group."