I stop pacing. "What do you mean?"
"The revitalization project your father announced before he went downhill. It was smoke and mirrors. There are no investors. No reserves." Her voice drops. "Your grandfather's company will collapse within months if we don't do something to save it."
We?
My jaw locks so tight my teeth ache. "And?"
"I need you to step in, Warren. I'm asking you to invest, to save what your grandfather built. I need you to save your namesake's business."
The laugh that erupts from me is bitter, incredulous. "With what money? I've been cut off for twenty years, remember? Disowned for telling the truth. I'm an attorney, but as you know, I'm not the rich kind."
"Not entirely." Her voice shifts, becomes sharper. "Your grandfather made provisions before he died."
My pulse quickens. "What are you talking about?"
"Warren, you own thirty percent of Carter Corp. You have since your twenty-first birthday."
The room tilts. I grip the windowsill for balance.
"That's not possible. Father would have?—"
"Your father couldn't touch it. Your grandfather made sure of that." She takes a breath. "There's more."
The line falls silent after her revelation. The pounding of my heart fills the void.
"More what?"
"Your trust. It belongs to you. It's still sitting there."
"A trust?" My voice is a rasp. "What trust?"
"The irrevocable trust in your name that was set up when you were born. We decided we wouldn't tell you boys about it until it vested at age twenty-five. And, well, you weren't around when you were twenty-five for us to tell you about it." Her breath hitches. "The dividends, the reinvestments, they've been accumulating since the day you were born. Untouched."
I press my forehead against the cool glass of the window. "I don't believe that. Father would have gotten that long ago if the business were failing."
"He couldn't touch it."
"How much?"
"Just over one billion."
My legs nearly buckle. One billion dollars. The number doesn't compute. It doesn't seem real.
"That's impossible."
"Warren, I've seen the statements. Your grandfather built failsafes into everything."
"So I've been, what? Secretly rich this whole time while scraping by in college and law school, thinking my education trust was the only thing I had?" Acid rises in my throat.
"Your father forbade it. He believed you needed to learn your lesson. He was waiting for you to come back."
My fist balls at my side. "My lesson. For telling the truth."
"Warren, please." Her voice shifts, softens in a way I've never heard. "Carter Corp is dying. The company your grandfather built from nothing will collapse within months.Don't let your pride stop you from doing the right thing. You're the only one who can save it."
"Why would I?" The laugh that escapes me is hollow. "Why would I lift a finger to save anything with the Carter name? My father told me I wasn't a Carter."
"You are, Warren. You will always be. You can run it differently. Better. The way it should have been run."