Chapter 283 Shadows of Inheritance

Chapter 283 Shadows of Inheritance
ANDREW'S POV

I sat at the Wilson Group boardroom table, my posture deliberately relaxed despite the undercurrent of hostility surrounding me. Beside me at the head of the table, Evelyn Wilson commanded the room with a regal presence that belied her eighty years. Her piercing blue eyes—the same ones that ran through the Wilson bloodline—missed nothing. Those eyes had seen potential in me when no one else bothered to look.

The board members shifted uncomfortably, shooting furtive glances my way. I didn't care. I'd earned my seat at this table, not through the Wilson name I technically shared, but through the secrets I held and the power those secrets granted me. Information was currency, and I was the richest man in the room.

I studied each face methodically. Harrison with his weak chin and weaker resolve; Rodriguez who'd survived three CEOs through sheer adaptability; Martinez whose ambition was written in every tense line of her body. These people weren't warriors—they were weathervanes, turning whichever way the wind of power blew. And right now, that wind was blowing in my direction.

"As you can see from the quarterly reports," Evelyn's voice cut through the tension, "our expansion into luxury is exceeding projections. My grandson Andrew has provided valuable insights into European markets that have positioned us ahead of competitors."

A ripple of whispers circled the table at the word "grandson." I kept my expression neutral, though I enjoyed their discomfort. After years of being the Wilson family's dirty secret, watching these corporate puppets squirm gave me a particular satisfaction. Evelyn caught my eye, the slightest curl at the corner of her mouth acknowledging our shared game.

Reno Farber cleared his throat. "With all due respect, Mrs. Wilson, Mr. Collins has only been with the company for two months, and suddenly he's being introduced as family? The shareholders—"

"The shareholders," I interrupted smoothly, having anticipated this challenge, "might be more concerned about board members who leak proprietary information to Bellamy Industries." I slid a folder across the table. "Particularly details about our upcoming acquisition targets."

Reno's face drained of color as Evelyn ordered security to escort him out. I had spent weeks building that case against him, knowing I'd need to make an example of someone eventually. In my world, you either move pieces across the board or become a piece moved by someone else.

The boardroom doors burst open. Lauren Wilson stood there, her dress contrasting with the wild fury in her eyes. I noticed the slight tremor in her right hand—the same symptom David had shown four months ago. The Wilson disease didn't always pass through the maternal line, but stress certainly accelerated its manifestation.

"How dare you hold this meeting without David?" Her gaze locked onto me with pure hatred. "And you – using David's condition to slither your way in here."

Once the room cleared, I watched Lauren's fury with detached interest. She'd never accepted me, not even when Caleb Wilson himself acknowledged my existence on his deathbed. To her, I would always be the living reminder of her husband's infidelity.

"You're destroying everything David built," she accused, pointing at me.

"Your son," I cut in, "is currently in a hospital in Switzerland, unable to remember conversations he had twenty minutes ago." The words were cruel but necessary.

"How do you—"

"I have someone at the hospital," I admitted without shame. "I've known about David's condition for months." In fact, I'd been monitoring my half-brother's health, waiting for the inevitable symptoms to appear. I'd recognized the early signs before anyone else—the forgotten meetings, the repeated questions, the confusion in his eyes when facing something familiar.

Evelyn's knuckles whitened around her cane. "Early-onset memory loss syndrome. A genetic time bomb you brought into my family, Lauren."

Lauren sank into a chair. "I prayed David wouldn't inherit it. My father was fifty when symptoms appeared."

"Sarah found out that David would never inherit control of Wilson Group with this diagnosis. That was why we knew," I said.

"We kept it completely private."

"She accessed his medical records," I explained. Sometimes enemies make useful pawns.

"Who else knows?" Evelyn asked.

"The specialist in Zürich. David's primary physician. The nurse I have monitoring him," I listed. "And as of yesterday, Olivia."

I nodded at Lauren's shocked expression. "She found his medical file in their hotel suite." A file I'd made sure would be visible enough. Olivia deserved to know the truth about the man she loved.

My phone vibrated. Glancing at the screen, I saw Olivia's name. My heart rate quickened – she'd always had that effect on me, even before I'd orchestrated our "chance" meeting in Paris years ago.

"I need to take this," I said, rising from my chair.

I strode out to the private rooftop garden. Los Angeles sprawled below me, a city of dreams and deception. In many ways, it was the perfect backdrop for what I had set in motion. The afternoon sun cast my shadow long across the imported Italian tiles—much like my influence now stretched across the Wilson empire.

"Olivia," I answered, my voice softening automatically. It always did for her, the only genuine reaction I couldn't fully control.

Her voice came through trembling, but with an undercurrent of steel. "You knew about David's illness, didn't you?"

I closed my eyes, the weight of secrets suddenly heavy on my shoulders. My silence was answer enough. The game I'd been playing for so long was reaching a critical point, and Olivia's next move would determine everything.

I had orchestrated so much from the shadows, but Olivia had always been the wild card I couldn't predict—the one person who could make me question my own carefully constructed plans.

For all my calculation and manipulation, I couldn't predict how she would react to learning I'd kept David's condition from her. Some truths were necessary casualties in war, but I knew Olivia didn't see the world that way. She believed in honesty, in transparency—qualities I admired in her but couldn't afford in my position.

The irony wasn't lost on me: in trying to protect her, I might lose her trust forever.