Chapter 6 - The Counsel in the Shadows
The female corporate counsel had stood near the rear doors since the meeting began.
Conrad had permitted her presence because he believed every lawyer in the chamber ultimately served the structure he controlled.
Now he was no longer sure.
She wore a fitted black suit, white blouse, no visible expression, and held the thick black portfolio like it contained either procedure or ammunition.
Mara did not look at her often.
That made Conrad more nervous.
If the counsel were Mara’s ally, why no signal?
If she were Conrad’s, why no reassurance?
If she were neither, then who had summoned her?
The red screens reflected across her face.
She stepped closer to the table.
Conrad barked, “State your purpose.”
She looked at Mara first.
Not submissively.
Not warmly.
Only acknowledging.
Then she looked at Conrad.
“My purpose has not changed.”
“What does that mean?”
She did not answer.
Mara watched Conrad’s hands shake.
The man who had ordered signatures, births, marriages, removals, promotions, and punishments could not force an answer from one woman with a portfolio.
It almost made her smile.
Almost.
Pain pulsed in her lip.
Her back ached from sitting too long.
Her daughter shifted beneath her palm.
Adrian whispered, “Mara, please.”
She did not look at him.
The word please meant nothing after silence.
A trustee near the fireplace suddenly stood.
“I want this meeting adjourned.”
Conrad spun toward him.
“You sit down.”
The trustee looked at the locked doors.
“Can we leave?”
No one answered.
That question changed the chamber again.
A meeting could be adjourned.
A trap could not.
The electronic lock flashed red once more.
The counsel’s portfolio creaked slightly under her fingers.
Mara calmly adjusted the closed forged folder on her lap.
Conrad saw the movement and understood the horror.
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The folder he threw at her had become a prop in her control.
Read Chapter 7 👉 Because no one knew whether the counsel served Conrad or Mara, and that uncertainty made the patriarch’s command begin to rot.
