All Chapters of The Inheritance Clause: Chapter 21 - Chapter 30

POV: Avalon PierceAvalon knew about the meeting before Selene confirmed it.Catherine’s assistant had called his assistant on Wednesday morning. A reservation at the Palace Hotel, Thursday at two, party of two.He’d waited to see if Selene would tell him and she did. Now it was Thursday, and he was parked outside the Palace Hotel like some kind of stalker, watching Selene walk through the ornate entrance.His phone buzzed. Margaret.Stop lurking.I’m not lurking. I’m being strategically nearby.That’s literally the definition of lurking. Trust her.I trust her. I don’t trust my mother. Fair. But if you crash their meeting, you make it about you instead of about Selene’s closure. Let her handle this.Avalon stared at the hotel entrance.Margaret was right. She was always right.He started the car, drove back to the office, tried to focus on quarterly projections and product roadmaps and anything except imagining what Catherine might say to make ten years of manipulation somehow acce

POV: Selene CastellanoMonday morning arrived like a storm.Selene woke to forty-three missed calls and her name trending nationwide.#PierceLawsuit@LegalEagle: Billionaire sues nephew over marriage fraud. This is the drama 2026 needed.@SFGate: BREAKING: Marcus Pierce challenges nephew’s marriage in inheritance dispute@BusinessInsider: Tech CEO faces fraud allegations in family legal battleHer phone rang. Maya.“You okay?”“Define okay.”“Lena—”“I’m fine. We expected this.”“That’s not what I asked.”Selene sat on her bed, watching sunrise paint the Bay gold.“I’m scared. They’re going to pick apart everything. Every conversation, every doubt, every moment we’ve kept distance.”“Is the marriage real?”“I don’t know. It started as a contract and became something else, but I don’t know if that’s enough.”“You love him. He’s falling for you. That’s for real.”“Love doesn’t have receipts. We can’t prove it in court.”“Then prove it by not giving up.” Maya’s voice softened. “Stand nex

POV: Avalon PierceThe deposition room was designed to be intimidating.Avalon understood this immediately, the stark white walls, the fluorescent lighting that made everyone look slightly unwell, the table that was too large for comfort but too small for distance. Everything calculated to put witnesses on edge.Margaret Chen sat across from Marcus’s attorney with the same composed expression she wore in board meetings. Tailored navy suit, minimal jewelry, reading glasses perched on her nose as she reviewed documents. She looked like what she was: someone who’d spent thirty years navigating corporate warfare and refused to be rattled by it.Sullivan—Marcus’s lead attorney—had clearly not done his homework if he thought Margaret would crack easily.Avalon watched from Diana’s office via live video feed, Selene beside him on the leather sofa. They’d been given the option to attend in person, but Diana had advised against it.“Your presence changes the dynamic,” she’d said. “Let Margaret

POV: Selene Castellano PierceThe deposition room looked exactly like it had on the video feed.Worse, actually—because this time, Selene was sitting in it.The beige walls felt closer than they had on screen, pressing in like they had something to prove. The fluorescent lights hummed faintly overhead, a steady, irritating buzz that settled somewhere behind her eyes. The long table stretched between her and Sullivan like a line drawn in the sand.On one side: him. Prepared. Armed. Hunting.On the other: her….With nothing but the truth.Diana sat beside her, composed as ever, a quiet, steady presence. Not intrusive. Not overbearing. Just there—solid in a way Selene could lean on without thinking.The court reporter adjusted her machine, fingers hovering, ready.Sullivan arranged his files with meticulous precision. Each page aligned. Each movement is deliberately controlled He looked younger in person than she’d expected. Early forties, maybe. Clean-cut. Sharp. The kind of man who did

POV: Avalon PierceThe deposition room feels different when you are the one under interrogation.Avalon had built conference rooms, sat through countless negotiations where millions hung on a single word. He had faced down investors, competitors, board members who wanted him gone but none of it prepared him for this.The fluorescent lights hummed overhead, harsh and clinical, the beige walls pressed in, making the space feel smaller. Meanwhile, Sullivan sat across the table like a hunter who’d finally cornered a prey worth hunting.Diana Chap was beside him, she was supportive even tho she is unable to protect him from what was coming.The court reporter’s fingers hovered over the stenotype. Waiting.“Please state your full name for the record.”Avalon’s mouth was dry. “Avalon James Pierce.”“Occupation?”“CEO of Nexus and Chairman of Pierce Holdings.”“Net worth?”The question landed wrong, it sounded very personal, Avalon responded anyways....“Approximately four billion dollars.”