Claire and Nicholas After Divorce novel · Chapter 14 of 24
Chapter 14: A Hundred and Sixty Thousand
Judith came down the aisle with the box held against her chest.
Four hundred people turned to watch a sick woman in pearls carry it.
Nicholas ran down the steps and took the weight from her.
"Mother, sit."
"I will not sit. I have waited seven years to put this on a table."
He set the box on the stage.
Judith lifted the lid with both hands and took out a folder tied with string.
"Marked Ames," she said. "In his handwriting."
The chair untied it.
Inside was a long paper in a blue cover, with a county stamp across the corner and three signatures at the bottom.
The chair read the stamp twice.
"This is the original deed of trust."
Gerald stopped smiling.
"Chair, a box from an attic proves nothing. Anyone can stamp a paper."
"I witnessed it."
The old director from my table had stood up.
"I was in the room when she signed it," he said. "Seventeen years ago, in that firm's office, with her friend and her lawyer. I'm the second signature. I have waited a long time to be asked."
"You're senile," Gerald said.
"I'm eighty-one. I remember what I signed."
A ripple of noise went through the seats.
The chair cleared his throat.
"The deed is authentic. The voting rights of the Ames holding are restored."
Gerald's lawyer jumped up from the front row.
"Chair, one objection. The Linden family signed a settlement with this company seven years ago. It includes a confidentiality clause covering the termination of their contract. Any statement about it breaches that agreement. The penalty is four times the sum paid."
"How much was the sum?" the chair asked.
"Forty thousand."
"Then it is a hundred and sixty thousand dollars," Gerald said. He sounded pleased. "Nobody wants that, Nicholas. Sit down."
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