Ms. CEO’s Baby Daddy Is the Merchant of Death – Episode 37
Scarlett retrieved her mother’s box from a secure archive beneath Asterion. Stephen had ordered it cataloged as worthless personal property. The metal case bore no visible manufacturer or conventional lock.
Summer’s pendant fit the narrow opening, but Scarlett hesitated. The coincidence felt impossible until Richard explained that Evelyn had once worked with a Reed-funded civilian technology foundation. She may have designed the lock around its crest.
Connor asked why his father had never mentioned knowing Scarlett’s mother. Richard said he had funded her early research but lost contact after she married Stephen. He had not recognized Scarlett’s connection until seeing the Asterion name.
Scarlett turned the pendant. Hidden mechanisms released, revealing letters, trust documents, and a small encrypted drive. Summer proudly announced that she had saved Mommy’s company.
The trust established Asterion before Evelyn’s marriage. Its controlling assets could pass only to Scarlett and her lawful descendants. No spouse, guardian, or chairman could sell them.
Stephen’s contract with Bennett therefore included property he had never owned. Scarlett’s attorneys prepared an emergency motion to void the transfer. Bennett responded with a different document bearing Evelyn’s apparent authorization.
The signature looked genuine. A forensic expert confirmed the ink and paper came from the correct period. If valid, Evelyn had amended the trust weeks before her death.
Scarlett refused to believe her mother had surrendered the company to Stephen. Connor cautioned that belief was not evidence. They needed to discover where Bennett obtained the document.
The encrypted drive required both Scarlett’s biometric signature and a phrase known only to Evelyn. Scarlett remembered the last words her mother repeated before every business trip: stars guide those who choose their own road.
The drive opened. It contained early Aegis designs, personal recordings, and an inventory of original trust papers. Bennett’s alleged amendment did not appear anywhere.
Scarlett’s attorneys argued forgery, but the court temporarily preserved Bennett’s voting claim until a full examination. He called an emergency Asterion board meeting for the following morning.
Connor offered to acquire the company through Dominion and return it to Scarlett. She refused again, more gently this time. Winning through his money would teach every enemy that she could be defeated until a stronger man arrived.
Connor understood. He reassigned Dominion’s analysts to trace the false amendment instead of buying shares. Scarlett kissed him for listening before acting.
That night, alarms sounded at their residence. Men wearing utility uniforms cut power and entered through a service corridor. Their target was the original trust file.
Lily took Summer into the reinforced safe room. Scarlett carried the documents while Connor intercepted the intruders downstairs. He disabled the first two without firing a shot.
A third attacker reached Scarlett and demanded the box. She struck him with the metal case and used Connor’s defensive training to break free. Husband and wife trapped the remaining team between them.
Police found Whitmore security credentials on one attacker. Under questioning, he admitted Bennett wanted the original trust destroyed before the court could inspect it. He also recognized Scarlett from an older operation.
Four years earlier, the same private unit had followed her from a Whitmore engagement event. Their orders were to recover her mother’s research and prevent her from reaching the authorities. The chase had ended when she entered Connor’s truck.
Scarlett realized the men who drugged and pursued her had not merely intended to force her marriage. Someone expected her to die, allowing Stephen’s false documents to control Asterion forever.
The prisoner named the man who authorized the operation. Bennett Whitmore had been hunting Scarlett long before Connor knew she existed, and he had spent four years trying to finish what failed that rainy night.
