At a family gathering to distribute the inheritance, my parents stunned….

Unless you choose to decline, this is ironclad. Grandpa gestured for me to sit beside him. I should have prepared you better, but I needed their genuine reactions.

Needed you to see them clearly for who they are when the stakes are high. I’ve always seen them clearly, I said softly. I just stopped expecting anything different years ago.

He patted my hand. There’s more you should understand before they regroup and return with their arguments. The check is just the beginning, a personal gift to give you immediate independence.

The full trust includes controlling interest in Wilson Financial Group, Lakeview Estate, the properties in New York, California, and Europe, and the investment portfolios. The scale was difficult to comprehend. Grandpa, I’m an architect, not a financial expert.

I don’t know how to run an investment firm. You don’t need to personally manage daily operations. That’s what qualified executives are for.

What the company needs is someone with vision and integrity at the helm. The technical aspects can be learned or delegated. Stanford added, the trust includes provisions for a transition period with a board of advisors I’ve personally vetted.

You won’t be without guidance. There’s one more element, Grandpa continued. I’ve allocated substantial funding for the Wilson Foundation for Community Architecture.

The mission statement aligns with the work you’ve already been doing, creating sustainable, beautiful spaces for underserved communities. My eyes widened. This aligned so perfectly with my deepest professional ambitions that it momentarily overshadowed the inheritance itself.

How did you know? I’ve barely discussed those ideas with anyone. A small smile played at his lips. I pay attention, Amber.

Always have. Your graduate thesis on democratizing beautiful design for low income housing. The pro bono projects you’ve taken on despite your firm’s disapproval.

The articles you’ve published under a pseudonym about architecture as social justice. You knew about those? I’d published those pieces as A.W. Stone, thinking no one had connected them to me. Little escapes me, especially when it concerns people I care about.

His expression grew more serious, which is why I also know exactly what Richard and Harper have been doing at the company. The corners cut. The people stepped on.

The gradual erosion of everything I built it to stand for. The door burst open, interrupting our conversation as Harper strode back in, our mother trailing behind her. Harper had clearly been crying, but had reapplied her makeup and straightened her shoulders, back in control.

I want to speak to Grandpa alone, she announced, then glared at me. Without you present. Before I could respond, Grandpa Maxwell spoke.

Anything you wish to say can be said in front of Amber. She’s trusty now. Fine.

Harper’s voice was ice. I want to know what lies she’s been telling you about me. What distortions she’s fed you to poison you against your actual business successor.

Amber has never spoken a negative word about you to me, he replied calmly. She didn’t need to. Your actions speak for themselves.

What actions? Building the company to record profits? Securing international partnerships? Working 80-hour weeks while she plays with drafting paper? Falsifying environmental compliance reports on the Texas properties, he countered. Burying harassment complaints against executives who supported your advancement. Manipulating board members with selectively edited information.

Shall I continue? The color drained from Harper’s face. That’s not- How did you- I built this company, girl. Did you really think I wouldn’t keep an eye on it? That I wouldn’t have loyal people still reporting to me? My mother stepped forward, her strategy shifting to appeal rather than demand.

Maxwell, we’re family. Whatever concerns you have can be addressed. But this public humiliation of Richard and Harper is unconscionable, everything they’ve sacrificed.

Catherine, the only sacrifice I’ve witnessed is of principles for profit. He sighed, suddenly looking tired. I don’t expect you to understand now.

Perhaps you never will. But my decision stands. She’ll destroy everything, Harper spat, pointing at me.

She knows nothing about business. She knows everything about integrity, which is the foundation business should be built upon, he replied. Now I’m tired.

This discussion is over. As if on cue, Jackson appeared at the door. Mr. Wilson needs to rest now.

Doctor’s orders. My mother and sister had no choice but to retreat, though Harper paused at the door to deliver a final barb. Enjoy your victory today.

It won’t last. After they left, I helped grandpa back to his private suite, where his nurse was waiting. As I turned to leave him to rest, he caught my hand.

They’ll try to make you doubt yourself, he said quietly. Don’t let them. I didn’t make this decision lightly or recently.

I’ve watched you for years, seen your character tested in ways they’ve never faced. You’re ready for this, even if you don’t believe it yet. I squeezed his hand gently.

Thank you for believing in me when no one else did. Not believing. Knowing.

He smiled tiredly. Now go. You have a lot to think about, and they’ll be regrouping for their next approach…