Chapter 7 - The Final Phone CallClara shifted uncomfortably against her pillows, her expression turning grim. "The week before Maria passed away, she received a phone call from a man claiming to be your corporate attorney."
Samuel’s heart skipped a beat. "My attorney? I didn't retain legal representation until two years after I left."
"Exactly," Clara said, her voice trembling slightly. "The man told Maria that you were ashamed of your background, that you had legally changed your last name in New York, and that if she ever called your private number again, you would file a restraining order against her for harassment."
The room seemed to spin around Samuel. All the air rushed out of his lungs.
"Who..." Samuel choked out, his voice shaking with a terrifying, mounting fury. "Who told you that?"
"Maria told me," Clara whispered, tears spilling over her lashes. "She cried for three days straight. She died believing her only son despised her. But I never believed it. I knew the boy who helped me with my spelling. I knew he was just... scared."
Samuel stood up so fast his chair screeched against the wooden floor. The pieces clicked together with horrifying clarity.
Richard Sterling.
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Ten years ago, Richard had been a junior partner at the investment firm where Samuel landed his first internship—the very firm that financed Samuel's initial patents. Richard had systematically isolated Samuel from his family, intercepting letters, blocking phone calls, and orchestrating the psychological warfare designed to make Samuel completely dependent on the firm.
"He murdered her," Samuel whispered, his voice shaking with lethal rage. "He murdered my mother with a lie."
