Chapter 7 - Eugenia’s Motive
It would have been easier if Eugenia had simply hated Niles.
She did not.
That made the birthday uglier.
She loved him.
In her way.
Bought him expensive Christmas gifts.
Attended school concerts.
Had photographs of him in her kitchen.
But she loved control more reliably than she loved anyone’s boundaries.
After Howard died, Eugenia became the senior family figure.
The reserve trust’s voting arrangement gave her real influence.
She chaired the board’s governance committee.
She controlled meeting agendas more than the documents technically allowed.
Executives deferred.
Roderick hated politics and focused on operations.
For four years, Eugenia became accustomed to acting as though Wexler Dynamics belonged to her.
Niles turning five ended that era.
The thirty-six percent would move into a subtrust with an independent corporate trustee.
Eugenia’s temporary governance powers terminated automatically.
She would still own twenty percent.
Still be a director unless removed.
Still wealthy.
Still influential.
But no longer dominant.
Then three months before the birthday, the board began considering whether to replace Eugenia as governance chair because of age, succession, and conflicts.
She took it personally.
At approximately the same time, she learned Niles’s fifth birthday triggered the trust transition.
So she looked for a way to delay it.
The document was clear.
Only question available:
Was Niles actually Roderick’s child?
She started whispering.
Not publicly.
To Roderick.
“Niles doesn’t look like you.”
He did.
“Coralie traveled during conception window.”
I had attended a three-day design conference.
“Howard insisted on bloodline.”
False.
Roderick told her to stop.
Then she claimed Alden needed DNA.
Also false.
Roderick, exhausted by weeks of insinuation, agreed to one test to end it.
That was how Eugenia obtained what she thought would be leverage.
Then page one came back.
No Howard-line match.
She did not celebrate immediately.
Because she knew what that might mean about Roderick.
But she saw another possibility.
If she could make the family believe Niles was illegitimate before anyone read deeper, maybe she could force a delay.
Maybe Alden would freeze the trust transfer pending review.
Maybe the board would pause.
Maybe she could buy time.
The trash box was not financial necessity.
It was theater.
Cruel, deliberate theater.
She wanted Coralie-and-Niles humiliation to land before the legal facts did.
May you like
That was her worst decision.
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