Chapter 8
Nobody moved.
The music had stopped.
The ballroom lights were still bright, making the scene feel even more unreal.
Richard stood near the center of the room with the gun.
Vivienne held Emma.
Katherine stood twenty feet away.
Elias stood between them.
Around the edges of the ballroom, police waited for a clear shot.
They didn't have one.
Too many people.
Too much movement.
Too much risk.
Richard looked down at the signet ring.
"The company means nothing to you?"
Elias shook his head.
"Not compared to them."
Richard laughed.
A broken sound.
"Do you know what I did for that company?"
"I know enough."
"I gave it my entire life."
"No."
Elias's voice softened.
"You gave it everyone else's life."
Richard's eyes flashed.
"You always wanted Katherine."
Katherine shook her head.
"Stop blaming me."
"Mom loved you more."
"No."
"She protected you."
"She protected the truth."
Richard lifted the music box.
"She prepared this."
"Because she was afraid of you."
"Exactly!"
His voice cracked.
"Even before I did anything, she expected me to fail."
Katherine looked at him.
"Richard, Mom found the transfers after you stole the money."
He froze.
The room seemed to shrink around him.
"You created the thing you're angry about."
For one second, Richard looked like a frightened boy.
Then rage returned.
Vivienne suddenly spoke.
"Enough."
Everyone turned toward her.
She released Emma's shoulder slightly.
"Richard, put the gun down."
He stared at his wife.
"Excuse me?"
"You've lost."
"So have you."
"No."
Vivienne's eyes moved toward the police.
"I can cooperate."
Richard laughed.
"You kidnapped a child."
"Because you told me Katherine's daughter would destroy us."
"Don't."
"I have records."
"Vivienne."
"Emails. Transfers. Payments."
His face went pale.
"You kept them?"
"I'm not stupid."
Emma realized Vivienne's grip was loosening.
She looked at Katherine.
Katherine saw it too.
Their eyes met.
One second.
Two.
Katherine whispered, "Now."
Emma dropped.
She threw herself to the floor and rolled away.
Vivienne grabbed for her.
Missed.
Elias moved.
He rushed Emma.
Richard raised the gun.
A shot exploded.
Screams filled the ballroom.
Emma covered her ears.
Elias fell.
"Grandpa!"
Katherine screamed.
Police fired.
Richard's gun flew from his hand.
He collapsed against a table, clutching his shoulder.
Vivienne dropped to her knees.
"Don't shoot!"
Emma crawled toward Elias.
Blood stained his shirt.
"No."
She grabbed him.
"No, no, no."
Elias opened his eyes.
"I'm all right."
"You're bleeding!"
"Shoulder."
Katherine reached them.
"Dad."
"I'm fine."
"You were shot."
"I've had worse meetings."
Katherine burst into tears and laughed at the same time.
Police officers surrounded Richard.
He stared at them in disbelief.
"It's over," one detective said.
Richard looked at Katherine.
"You did this."
Katherine shook her head.
"No."
She looked at the music box lying on the floor.
"You did."
He was handcuffed.
Vivienne was handcuffed next.
She immediately began talking.
"I'll cooperate."
One officer looked unimpressed.
"Save it for your attorney."
"I have evidence against Richard."
"Great. Tell your attorney."
"I was afraid of him."
Emma stood.
"You weren't afraid when you threw me."
Vivienne looked at her.
For once, she had nothing to say.
Paramedics entered.
Elias was placed on a stretcher.
Emma refused to let go of his hand.
Katherine walked beside them.
"You need to go back to the hospital too," Elias said.
"Don't start."
"You nearly died."
"You got shot."
"Mine is more dramatic."
"You're impossible."
Emma looked between them.
"Are all Blackwoods like this?"
Katherine smiled through tears.
"Unfortunately."
As paramedics moved Elias toward the elevators, Daniel picked up Margaret's music box.
The velvet lining had torn when it fell.
Something white stuck out beneath it.
Daniel pulled carefully.
An envelope.
He stared.
"Katherine."
She turned.
"What?"
He held it up.
Richard saw it from across the room.
His face changed.
"No."
Daniel frowned.
"What is it?"
Richard fought the officers.
"Give me that!"
That reaction told everyone it mattered.
Daniel opened it.
Inside was a legal document.
He read the first page.
Then the second.
His eyes widened.
"Elias."
The stretcher stopped.
"What?"
Daniel looked at Katherine.
"This was signed by Margaret."
"What is it?"
"A contingency voting directive."
Katherine stared.
Daniel continued.
"If there is evidence that a trustee used fraud, threats, or coercion against another beneficiary, all voting authority held by that trustee transfers immediately to the harmed beneficiary pending judicial review."
Richard stopped fighting.
Silence.
Daniel looked directly at him.
"Richard's shares."
Then he looked at Katherine.
"They go to you."
Katherine shook her head.
"I don't want them."
Richard laughed bitterly.
"Of course you do."
She looked at him.
"No."
And somehow that answer hurt him more than anything else.
He had destroyed his sister's life for power she had never wanted.
Police led him away.
The ballroom guests watched in silence.
No applause.
No celebration.
Only the heavy feeling of witnessing a family break open in public.
At the hospital, Elias underwent surgery.
The bullet had passed through soft tissue near his shoulder.
No major artery was damaged.
He was expected to recover.
Katherine was readmitted one floor below him.
Emma spent the night moving between their rooms.
At three in the morning, she sat beside Elias.
He was awake.
Barely.
"You should sleep," he said.
"So should you."
"I've been sleeping."
"You were unconscious."
"At my age, we take what we can get."
Emma smiled.
Then grew serious.
"Why did Uncle Richard hate Mom?"
Elias stared at the ceiling.
"I don't think he did."
"Then why?"
"Sometimes jealousy can become anger. Anger can become resentment. And if someone keeps feeding it long enough, they stop remembering where it started."
Emma thought about that.
"Is he evil?"
Elias looked at her.
"People want simple answers."
"So?"
"I think your uncle made terrible choices until terrible choices became his normal life."
"That's not an answer either."
Elias smiled weakly.
"You really are your mother's daughter."
Emma looked down.
"Am I your granddaughter?"
His eyes softened.
"Yes."
"No DNA test?"
"I don't need one."
"What if you're wrong?"
"I'm not."
"But scientifically."
Elias laughed, then winced from pain.
"Tomorrow we'll do a DNA test scientifically."
Emma smiled.
Then she reached for his hand.
"Can I still call you Grandpa if it's negative?"
His face broke.
He squeezed her fingers.
"You can call me Grandpa for the rest of my life."
The next morning, however, another crisis arrived.
Katherine's kidney function had deteriorated overnight.
The doctor stood with Elias, Emma, and Daniel.
"She needs surgery soon."
Emma's face went white.
"What kind?"
"A transplant may ultimately be necessary."
Elias looked at the doctor.
"Test me."
"Mr. Blackwood, your age—"
"Test me."
Emma stepped forward.
"Test me too."
"No," Elias said.
The doctor shook his head.
"You're too young for what we're discussing."
Emma crossed her arms.
"Everyone keeps saying that."
Katherine, listening from the bed, smiled weakly.
The doctor continued.
"We'll test compatible adult relatives."
Everyone slowly looked toward the hallway.
There was only one other close adult relative.
Richard.
Katherine laughed without humor.
"You've got to be kidding."
Elias looked at her.
"If he's a match—"
"No."
"Katie."
"No."
"He owes you more than he can ever repay."
"I don't want part of him inside me."
Emma took her mother's hand.
"Mom."
Katherine looked at her.
Emma whispered, "I don't want to lose you because you're angry."
Katherine closed her eyes.
Elias watched his daughter struggle with the hardest truth of all.
Surviving Richard might require accepting help from him.
And across town, sitting in an interrogation room, Richard received the same news.
His lawyer asked quietly,
"If you're a match, would you donate?"
Richard looked through the glass.
For a long time, he said nothing.
May you like
Then he whispered,
"Does she want me to?"
