PART 2 — The Company My Mother Never Wanted Me to Know About
Jenna stared at the certificate until the words blurred.
Ashford Property Holdings.
She knew the name.
Not because she'd worked there.
Because her mother hated hearing it mentioned.
Whenever Grandma Helen's late husband came up in conversation, Linda always changed the subject. Jenna had assumed it was because the memories were painful.
Now she wasn't so sure.
"What is this?" Jenna whispered.
Helen adjusted her glasses.
"Your grandfather started that company with two friends nearly forty years ago."
Jenna frowned.
"I thought he sold it."
"He sold part of it," Helen corrected gently. "Not all of it."
She reached into the box again and pulled out a faded envelope.
"He kept twenty-two percent."
Jenna's eyes widened.
"What?"
"When he passed away, those shares came to me."
Helen smiled sadly.
"And when your mother forced me out of the house, she expected me to sign them over."
"You didn't."
"No."
She shook her head.
"I changed my will instead."
Jenna slowly unfolded another document.
It was a trust agreement.
Her own name appeared on the first page.
"I... I don't understand."
Helen reached across the table.
"I inherited the shares."
She squeezed Jenna's hand.
"But after the way your mother treated me—and the way she treated you—I decided they should someday belong to the only person in this family who understands kindness."
Jenna couldn't breathe.
"I inherited them?"
Helen nodded.
"Last year."
"You never told me."
"You were drowning."
Helen looked toward the sleeping Chloe.
"And I didn't want money to become another chain your parents could use."
The next morning Helen insisted they visit the company's headquarters.
Jenna felt completely out of place walking into the sleek glass building.
The receptionist looked surprised when she saw the trust documents.
Within minutes they were escorted upstairs.
Not to Human Resources.
Not to Customer Service.
To the executive floor.
A silver-haired attorney smiled warmly.
"We've been hoping to meet you, Ms. Carter."
"Hoping?"
"The board has been waiting for your decision."
"What decision?"
"Whether you wished to remain a silent shareholder..."
He smiled.
"...or finally take your seat on the board."
Jenna looked at Helen.
Helen simply nodded.
"Your grandfather always believed this day would come."
Meanwhile, back at Linda's house, Megan laughed while unpacking Chloe's old bookshelf.
"I told you she'd come crawling back."
Linda smiled confidently.
May you like
"She always does."
Neither of them realized they had just thrown away the only leverage they had ever held over Jenna.
