My blood ran cold. “What does that mean?”
“It means he is telling a judge that you are mentally unfit, that you are unstable, that you are a danger to yourself. He is using the gala, your refusal, and his assault on you as proof that you are hysterical and insane.”
I could not breathe. “He’s—he’s saying I’m crazy.”
“He is,” Mr. Harrison said. “He is claiming your grandfather’s trust, combined with your ‘fragile’ mental state, has caused a psychotic break. He is asking the court to make him your legal guardian—to give him control over your money, your home, your medical decisions—everything.”
He was trying to erase me. He had failed to take my money by force. Now he was trying to take my mind by law. He was going to use my quietness, my obedience, my entire life of servitude as proof that I was not a whole person.
“He can’t win. Can he?” I whispered. I was terrified.
Mr. Harrison looked at me for the first time. He smiled. “No, Charlotte. He can’t.” He tapped his briefcase. “Your father thinks this is a fight about your sanity. He is coming to court with insults and lies. He doesn’t know what your grandfather prepared for.”
“What did he prepare?”
“Your father’s empire—Hail Innovations—it’s built on one single piece of technology. A medical scanner. The one he ‘invented’ twenty‑five years ago.”
“Yes,” I said. “That’s his legacy.”
“No,” Mr. Harrison said. “It’s your grandfather’s.” He opened his briefcase. He pulled out a thick file. “Your grandfather didn’t just leave you a trust, Charlotte. He left you an arsenal. He left you his original lab notes. He left you the forged patent applications where your father signed his name to your grandfather’s work. He left you proof of the theft that built your father’s entire life.”
