The Man Who Believed His Own Foundation
Chapter 03 - The Man Who Believed His Own Foundation
Adrian Bellamy had inherited responsibility before he'd inherited confidence. Eleanor's death three years earlier left him with a hotel portfolio, hundreds of employees, and a foundation he'd mostly delegated to other people. Victoria, a celebrated fundraiser with flawless manners in public, had promised to modernize it.
He had wanted to believe her. Since his divorce, he'd avoided close relationships. Victoria understood cameras, donors, and the loneliness of a house that was too large for one person. When she proposed converting Harbor House into a revenue-producing educational campus, she presented it as a decision that would ultimately help more students.
Now June stood in the ballroom with evidence that Eleanor had prohibited the conversion altogether.
Adrian faced Victoria. “Did you read the trust deed?”
“Of course. She's holding a fake.”
“Then we'll verify it.”
Victoria's hand tightened on his forearm. “You're going to let a waitress ruin our evening?”
“What ruined the evening was you hitting her.”
The room fell silent for a second time. Adrian asked the event manager to call for first aid and directed security not to detain June merely for speaking. He announced that the foundation's presentation was suspended pending review. The donors began whispering; somebody was already uploading the confrontation to social media.
June had expected Adrian to dismiss her. Instead, he asked whether she wanted to sit in a quiet room and speak with an independent attorney. She hesitated. Powerful men had been promising solutions to Marian for years.
“I'm not giving you the key,” she said.
“You shouldn't,” Adrian replied. “Not until you trust the process.”
They agreed to meet the next morning at the office of foundation counsel selected by an independent board member. Victoria insisted on attending. Adrian refused. “You are involved in the decision being questioned.”
Victoria left the ballroom with her chin high. But as she passed June, she leaned close enough that nobody else heard.
May you like
“You don't know what your mother did to get that key.”
June felt a sudden, cold uncertainty. Her mother had spent years protecting Eleanor's memory. What could Victoria possibly know that June didn't?
