The Man Who Never Looked Away novel Chapter 387

After leaving the estate, Lavinia and Julian were both feeling a bit hungry. They found a well-known, old-school local restaurant down the street.

They had just sat down and ordered when Charley arrived.

"How did it go?" Charley asked.

"It was just an empty house, nothing special to see. The only thing of note was Garnett's suit hanging in the east wing's closet," Lavinia replied coolly.

Charley glanced at her but didn't press the issue. Julian flipped through the menu and added a bowl of Faux Fin Soup to their order.

"Julian," Lavinia said, setting down her silverware, "what did you mean earlier when you said our family has a seat on the Harper Group's board?"

Julian closed the menu and looked at her. "Back in the day, the capital and connections Grandma poured into the Harper family was an immeasurable debt. The old Mr. Harper was an honorable man. Before he passed away, he wrote a will leaving fifteen percent of the Harper Group's shares to Grandma."

He paused and continued, "Grandma didn't want a seat on the board, so she had Nestor Harper and Garnett hold those shares in trust for her, split equally between them. For the first few years, the Harpers paid out her dividends proportionally. Grandma wasn't fussy; she just cared about the final number."

"So what happened?" Charley asked.

"The Harper Group went through several rounds of capital increases and share expansions, which diluted the shares held in trust. During the first round, Grandma's fifteen percent dropped to eleven percent. The second time, it plummeted into the single digits. The Harpers didn't compensate her with proportional shares, nor did they sign any formal agreements acknowledging her equity. Eventually, even the dividend payments just stopped," Julian explained.

Charley chimed in, "Holding shares in trust is legally valid, but Judith is missing several critical pieces of evidence. That includes a written trust agreement, confirmation documents from past share allocations, and records of her demanding the unpaid dividends over the years."

He paused. "Because the Harpers dragged this out for so long, the statute of limitations could be a huge issue. If you take this to court, the judge is going to ask why she waited all these years to assert her rights."

"It was mostly because Grandma didn't have any direct descendants at the time. She figured everything would likely end up with Garnett anyway, and the Gilmores weren't exactly hurting for those shares. Plus, the arrangement was originally built on trust. Now that the trust is gone, we need to formally establish ownership again." Julian paused. "If the Harpers cooperate and produce the historical shareholder resolutions and financial records, we can calculate exactly what's owed. If they refuse, the auditing and evidence-gathering process will drag on forever."

Listening closely, Lavinia picked up her silverware and continued eating.

"So Nestor Harper refuses to hand it over because he knows Grandma doesn't have the paperwork. He's banking on the legal battle taking so long that we just give up and drop it," Lavinia deduced.

"Exactly," Julian confirmed.

Lavinia didn't say anything further, but a plan was already forming in her mind.

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