Chapter 9 - The Billionaire Who Wanted Us All to FailSamuel Price had built his reputation by appearing reasonable.
That became suspicious almost immediately.
Her name was Evelyn Cole.
According to public records, Evelyn and Charles had divorced twelve years earlier.
According to society pages, she lived primarily in London.
According to Andrew, all of that was misleading.
“Evelyn controls money through trusts and investment partnerships,” he told me.
“Halcyon?”
“Part of it.”
“How much?”
“Enough.”
“And Vanessa works for her?”
“I think Vanessa works for herself.”
“That isn’t an answer.”
“It’s the only one I have.”
Andrew looked genuinely afraid.
That bothered me more than anything Charles had said.
“What does Evelyn want?”
“Aurelia.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know.”
“Water?”
“Maybe.”
“Land?”
“Yes.”
“Then why hide behind Halcyon?”
“Because Eleanor would never negotiate with a Cole.”
I sat down.
Suddenly the entire strategy appeared.
Acquire influence over Andrew.
Encourage him to pursue Aurelia.
Finance the deal.
Gain development access through partnership.
If he failed, seize his company through debt.
Either outcome put the Cole family closer to my estate.
“What did Vanessa promise you?”
Andrew said nothing.
“What?”
“Control.”
“Of what?”
“After the acquisition, Bennett Global would combine wine assets with Cole hospitality properties.”
“And?”
“I’d become CEO of the combined group.”
I laughed.
He flinched.
“She promised you an empire.”
“Yes.”
“And you believed the woman sleeping with you.”
“I believed the numbers.”
“No, Andrew. You believed exactly what you wanted to hear.”
He looked exhausted.
“So did you.”
That hurt because it was fair.
I believed our marriage was stronger than the evidence.
We had both mistaken desire for truth.
Before leaving, I asked one final question.
“Did Vanessa take the trust file?”
“I don’t know.”
“Would she?”
“Yes.”
That was the first thing he said without hesitation.
I returned to Aurelia after midnight.
Margaret was waiting.
“We found the purchase option.”
I stopped.
“Where?”
“County archive microfilm.”
Of course.
My grandmother never trusted single copies.
Margaret smiled.
“Eleanor recorded a memorandum of the agreement in 1987.”
“Is it valid?”
“We believe so.”
“What does it cover?”
“Six Cole Crest parcels bordering Aurelia.”
“Including Seventeen?”
“Yes.”
“And the transfer?”
“Cole moved it into a development subsidiary controlled by outside investors nine months ago.”
My heartbeat quickened.
“So that triggered the option.”
“Most likely.”
“At what price?”
Margaret almost smiled.
“That’s the interesting part.”
“What?”
“The option price is calculated based on agricultural appraisal value.”
I waited.
“Approximately twelve million.”
“For how much land?”
“Three hundred and twenty acres.”
I nearly laughed.
“What’s it worth for development?”
“Potentially more than one hundred and fifty million.”
Now I understood Charles’s desperation.
If Aurelia exercised the option, his resort project would be gutted.
“What’s the deadline?”
Margaret’s smile disappeared.
“Thirty days from formal notice of transfer.”
“When was formal notice?”
“There wasn’t any.”
“Then?”
“If they failed to notify Aurelia as required, our argument is the option remains open.”
I sat.
“That’s why they stole the document.”
“Probably.”
“They hoped we wouldn’t discover it.”
“Yes.”
Gabriel entered.
“Claire.”
Something in his voice alarmed me.
“What?”
“You need to see the lower cellar.”
We followed him downstairs.
The temperature dropped as we descended beneath the château.
At the far end of the cellar, two workers stood beside a stainless steel holding tank.
Gabriel pointed toward the digital control panel.
“Someone altered the temperature setting.”
My stomach tightened.
“What would that do?”
“Potentially ruin the reserve lot.”
“How much?”
“Retail value? Nearly four million.”
Margaret swore quietly.
“Accident?”
Gabriel shook his head.
“The control is password protected.”
“Who has access?”
“Five people.”
“Could this be remotely accessed?”
“No.”
Someone had entered Aurelia.
Again.
I looked at Gabriel.
“You fixed it?”
“Before damage occurred.”
“How did you know?”
“The monitoring alarm.”
I remembered the old sabotage story.
Twenty-two years earlier.
Fermentation systems.
Ruined wine.
“Same method.”
Gabriel nodded.
Not identical.
But close enough to feel like a message.
My phone buzzed.
Unknown number.
I answered.
“Hello?”
A woman spoke.
Older.
Controlled.
“Claire Bennett?”
“Yes.”
“This is Evelyn Cole.”
Margaret and Gabriel exchanged looks.
My pulse jumped.
“What do you want?”
“To apologize.”
“For what?”
“My daughter’s behavior.”
“Which part?”
A soft laugh.
“Eleanor would have liked you.”
“You knew my grandmother.”
“Very well.”
I walked away from Margaret and Gabriel.
“How well?”
“We were friends once.”
That surprised me.
“What happened?”
“Business.”
“That seems to ruin a lot of friendships in your family.”
Evelyn laughed again.
“I would like to meet you.”
“No.”
“I can answer questions Andrew cannot.”
“I’m listening.”
“Not by telephone.”
“Then we don’t talk.”
A pause.
“You found the option agreement.”
Every hair on my arms lifted.
“How do you know?”
“Because Eleanor always kept backups.”
“Did you send someone into my house?”
“No.”
“Did Vanessa?”
“Ask her.”
“Did you sabotage my cellar?”
Evelyn became quiet.
Then her tone changed.
“No.”
I believed her.
I didn’t know why.
Perhaps because the denial sounded angry rather than defensive.
She continued.
“If someone touched your wine, Claire, you have a larger problem.”
“Meaning?”
“Charles would never damage something he wants to own.”
I stared into the dark cellar.
“Then who would?”
“Someone who benefits if Aurelia’s value collapses.”
“Halcyon?”
“No.”
“Who?”
She exhaled.
“Meet me tomorrow.”
“Where?”
“Your grandmother’s favorite restaurant in Yountville.”
“How do you know her favorite restaurant?”
Silence.
Then Evelyn said something strange.
“Because once, before Charles, before lawsuits, before any of this, Eleanor Mercer was supposed to be my business partner.”
The call ended.
I returned to Margaret.
“What did she say?”
“She wants to meet.”
“You’re not going alone.”
“I know.”
Gabriel looked at the tank.
“Do you trust her?”
“No.”
“Then why meet?”
“Because somebody sabotaged Aurelia.”
I looked toward the dark tunnel extending beneath the winery.
“And for the first time, a Cole seems concerned that it wasn’t them.”
The next morning, Evelyn Cole arrived exactly at ten.
She looked nothing like Vanessa.
Dark silver hair.
Minimal jewelry.
No obvious need to impress anybody.
She sat across from me.
Then placed an old photograph on the table.
Three women stood in a vineyard.
Eleanor.
Evelyn.
And a third woman I didn’t recognize.
I picked it up.
“Who is she?”
Evelyn’s expression changed.
“Marianne Vale.”
“Who?”
“The woman who almost destroyed Aurelia twenty-two years ago.”
I frowned.
“What happened to her?”
“She disappeared from Napa.”
“And why does she matter now?”
Evelyn looked directly at me.
“Because her son works for Bennett Global.”
My heartbeat accelerated.
“Who?”
She slid a second photograph across the table.
I recognized him instantly.
Samuel Price.
The investor who had publicly suspended Andrew’s funding.
Except according to Evelyn, Samuel Price was not merely an investor.
He was the son of the woman who had once tried to bankrupt my grandmother.
May you like
And suddenly, the richest man on Andrew’s terrace wasn’t a witness to the disaster.
He might have been waiting for it.
