Chapter 7: The Daughter Who Knew the Truth
Amina couldn't understand what Warren meant.
Sloane had been a child in 2004.
She would have been around seven years old.
“What could she possibly have known?”” Amina asked.
Warren looked at the photograph.
“More than we realized.””
Daniel opened the metal box and examined the cassette recorder.
“Let's not guess. We need to listen to what's on this memory card.””
They returned to Warren's office at Sterling House.
Marcus locked the door.
Daniel connected the card to his laptop.
Several audio files appeared.
Most were short recordings of meetings.
One file was dated June 18, 2004.
Warren pressed play.
At first, there was static.
Then Graham's voice filled the room.
“You can't keep refusing the offer, Miriam. This company is going nowhere without outside investment.””
Miriam answered calmly.
“Then let it go nowhere. It belongs to the people who built it.””
“You're being emotional.””
“I'm being fair.””
Another voice entered.
Kareem.
“Graham, we had an agreement.””
“An agreement you failed to honor,” Graham snapped.
Kareem sounded frightened.
“You told me my mother would receive compensation.””
“She will. Once the transfer is complete.””
“She's not signing.””
“Then convince her.””
There was a pause.
Then Graham spoke again.
“Or I'll make sure everyone knows you tried to sell her work behind her back.””
Amina covered her mouth.
Her father had been trapped.
The recording continued.
Miriam's voice became firm.
“You will not threaten my son.””
Graham laughed.
“Your son has already signed.””
“His signature is meaningless without mine.””
“Perhaps.””
Then came a sound.
A door opening.
A child speaking.
“Daddy?””
Everyone in the room froze.
It was a little girl's voice.
Sloane.
“What's happening?””
Graham's tone changed instantly.
“Nothing, sweetheart. Go upstairs.””
“But you said Grandma Miriam was going to give us the flower business.””
Amina looked at Warren.
He pressed his lips together.
The recording continued.
Sloane spoke again.
“Daddy said we would have all the roses. He said I could make them when I grew up.””
Graham answered sharply.
“That's enough.””
Miriam spoke gently.
“Come here, darling.””
A small footstep.
Then Miriam's voice.
“Do you like the flowers?””
“Yes.””
“Then you must always remember who made them.””
Sloane giggled.
“Grandma Miriam did.””
Graham interrupted.
“That's enough.””
The recording ended.
Nobody spoke for several seconds.
Marcus finally broke the silence.
“So Sloane knew?””
Warren shook his head.
“She knew the flowers belonged to Miriam. But she was a child.””
Amina stared at the laptop.
“She's an adult now. She knows.””
Daniel opened another recording.
This one was from 2005.
Graham's voice was louder.
“The old woman has copies of everything. We need to get them before she speaks to anyone.””
Another man answered.
“Warren won't cooperate.””
“Then we'll make him.””
The audio ended with a sharp click.
Amina looked at Warren.
“Did Graham threaten you?””
“Yes.””
“With what?””
Warren lowered his eyes.
“My wife.””
The room became silent.
Warren explained that Graham had used the financial documents from the failed acquisition to threaten the Sterling House board. If Warren challenged him, Graham would expose confidential financial transactions and accuse him of fraud.
“He told me I would lose everything,” Warren said.
“My company. My reputation. My family.””
“So you let Miriam lose hers instead,” Amina replied.
Warren nodded.
“Yes.””
He didn't defend himself.
That made Amina angrier.
The next morning, Amina received a message from Sloane.
Meet me at the hotel restaurant. Alone.
Marcus immediately objected.
“Absolutely not.””
“I need to hear what she has to say.””
“She's the person who stole your work.””
“Exactly.””
Amina agreed to meet Sloane at eleven.
The restaurant was almost empty.
Sloane sat in a corner booth, wearing sunglasses and a cream-colored coat.
When Amina approached, she removed them.
“You came.””
“You asked.””
Sloane glanced around.
“Your grandmother is safe?””
Amina's expression hardened.
“Why are you asking?””
Sloane looked down.
“Because I know what my father did.””
Amina sat slowly.
“Then you know your collection was stolen.””
Sloane nodded.
“I knew some of it.””
“Some?””
“My father showed me the original designs when I was younger. He told me they were part of a business agreement.””
“They weren't.””
“I know that now.””
Amina stared at her.
“Now?””
Sloane's fingers tightened around her coffee cup.
“I found the original paperwork last year. I confronted him.””
“And what did he say?””
“He said the business had been transferred legally.””
“Did you believe him?””
Sloane looked away.
“No.””
Amina leaned forward.
“Then why did you continue using my grandmother's work?””
Sloane's eyes filled.
“Because I had spent my entire life being told that one day I would inherit something extraordinary. My father built my career around those designs. He introduced me as the creator. He told investors I had developed the collection.””
“So you let him.””
Sloane nodded.
Amina's voice was cold.
“You didn't just let him. You stood on a stage and accepted awards for it.””
“I know.””
“You took opportunities from people who actually worked for them.””
“I know!””
Sloane's voice cracked.
A waiter glanced toward them.
Sloane lowered her voice.
“You think I don't know what I've done?””
Amina stared at her.
“Then why are we here?””
Sloane reached into her handbag.
She removed a small silver flash drive.
“My father keeps copies of everything. Contracts, payments, recordings, internal emails.””
Amina didn't touch it.
“Why give it to me?””
“Because he's planning something.””
“What?””
“He's going to announce that the Mercy Rose collection is entirely his intellectual property. He's already preparing a lawsuit against you.””
Amina frowned.
“On what grounds?””
“Damaging the Sterling House brand. Stealing confidential materials. Defamation.””
Sloane leaned closer.
“He wants to destroy you before the competition ends.””
Amina studied her face.
“Why should I trust you?””
“You shouldn't.””
“Then why should I take this?””
Sloane pushed the drive across the table.
“Because I don't want to spend the rest of my life pretending I created something I never understood.””
Amina looked at the flash drive.
“Is there proof of the original ownership?””
“Yes.””
“Proof that Graham knew?””
“Yes.””
“Proof that you knew?””
Sloane swallowed.
“Yes.””
Amina finally picked up the drive.
“Then you'll testify.””
Sloane looked startled.
“What?””
“You heard me. You'll tell the judges and the authorities what happened.””
“My father will never forgive me.””
Amina stood.
“Your father has spent twenty-two years refusing to forgive anyone who challenged him.””
She placed some money on the table.
“Perhaps it's time someone stopped asking for his permission.””
As she turned to leave, Sloane spoke.
“There's something else.””
Amina stopped.
“My mother.””
“What about her?””
“She knew about the stolen business too.””
Amina frowned.
“Your mother?””
Sloane nodded.
“She was the one who found the original Mercy Kitchen documents. She wanted my father to return everything.””
“Where is she?””
Sloane's face tightened.
“She died five years ago.””
Amina said nothing.
“Before she died, she gave me a letter. I never opened it.””
“Why?””
“Because my father told me it contained lies.””
Sloane removed a folded envelope.
The paper was yellowed at the edges.
It had been addressed to her.
Amina watched as Sloane opened it.
The first line was written in a woman's elegant handwriting.
My darling Sloane,
If you are reading this, then I have finally found the courage to tell you what your father has done.
Sloane began to tremble.
The letter continued.
The Mercy Rose belongs to Miriam Hassan. I watched your father take her work, and I watched Warren Sterling allow it. I tried to stop them.
I failed.
But there is something you must know.
Your father did not build your career because he believed in your talent.
He built it because he needed a face to put on stolen work.
Sloane stopped reading.
Tears rolled down her cheeks.
Amina watched her carefully.
Then Sloane reached the final paragraph.
Her expression changed.
She looked at Amina.
“My mother says she left something for your grandmother.””
“What?””
Sloane turned the letter over.
There was a handwritten address.
And beneath it, a sentence that made Amina's heart race.
The original shareholders' agreement is not the only document Graham forged. The real transfer papers are hidden in the place where Warren first learned to make sugar roses.
Amina looked toward the window.
She knew where that was.
Mercy Kitchen.
But before she could speak, Sloane's phone rang.
The caller ID displayed one name.
*DAD.*
She answered.
Graham's voice came through the speaker.
“Where are you?””
Sloane swallowed.
“Having coffee.””
“With whom?””
Sloane looked at Amina.
Then she answered.
“With the woman whose life you stole.””
There was silence.
Then Graham said something that made Sloane drop her phone.
“You ungrateful little fool. Your mother made the same mistake.””
The call ended.
Amina looked at Sloane.
“What did he mean?””
May you like
Sloane picked up her phone with shaking hands.
“I think my mother didn't die of natural causes.””
