BLOODSUCKER

vingt deux

'So you didn't sign it?' Marcus asked Maeve as they sat in a coffee shop staring out to the marina.

'No, I couldn't do it. I thought I wanted to but I guess I didn't want it as much as I thought.' Maeve shrugged her shoulders looking down at her finger that no longer occupied the wedding rings.

'So why does he think of your plan?' Marcus wriggled his eyebrows as he sat across from his sister.

'I haven't got around to asking him yet. I think I am going to wait until we get the verdict of mother case. Then I'll be ready to discuss it.' Maeve smiled pleasantly back. Melina Larson was scheduled to sit in front of a judge for the 2nd time this month and hopefully the last time. A case had been built showing that the Larsons were in fact framed. Upon looking at the account that the money was sent from, it had no links to Larsons in anyways. Where the deposits came from is still unknown but this information was missed in the original trial. It also came to light that the original jury was tampered with, they were bribed with a hefty amount of money to deem the Larsons guilty and it worked. The courts had no idea who could be behind this but Maeve had an idea.

'She's coming home Maeve. This time tomorrow, our mother with will be free.' Marcus held onto his sisters hand.

~*~*~*~*~

'Charles I'm home.' Maeve called as she entered her home. She stumbled into the kitchen to see Charles sat in front of his laptop. 'Hey, can we talk?'

Panic set into Charles as those words left Maeve's mouth, the situation felt familiar. 'Sure.'

'My mother is in court tomorrow. Marcus is adamant she is coming home. I'm just checking that it's okay if she stays will us for a little while, just until she is back on her feet.' Maeve fidgeted with the bracket on her wrist, something she did when she was anxious.

Charles examined her before speaking. 'You know this is your house as well. You don't need to ask me for permission for anything Maeve.' Charles looked intently at her, making sure to take in all her beauty as she stood before him. 'But that's not it, you're all anxious about something. What did you really want to ask me?'

Maeve also forgot how good Charles had got at reading her emotions, he could read her like a book. 'I'm just going to tell you the truth. I made a deal with Arthur quite some time ago. If I somehow managed to uncover the truth of what was going on at Leclerc Limited. He would give me his shares of the company. I followed my end of the deal and your brother followed his end. Arthur is out of the company, and I own 30% which technically means I owned more than you at one point. Arthur over heard a conversation between you and your mother. I know you have access to Lorenzo's shares plus an extra 10% meaning you own 40%. Between us, we own 70% of that company and your mother owns 30%'

'Where are you going with this Maeve?' Charles questioned his wife as he closed his laptop.

'This time tomorrow, my mum is going to be free of that prison your family put her in and when the media catches onto this story. I'm sorry Charles but there isn't going to be much of a company left. It's not going to take a lot to figure out what happened. Leclerc Limited is going to go bust, it's inevitable. I want your mother's shares and I want to rebrand the company.' Maeve spoke carefully making sure not to anger Charles with what she was saying.

'What do you have in mind?' Charles asked feeling rather intrigued by what his wife was putting on a plate under his nose.

'We keep the foundations the same, but we open the doors to other opportunities. We should finally go ahead with the merge our families planned way back then. We can bring LNL Limited to life.'

'I love your enthusiasm Maeve but my mother is not going to step away without a fight.'

'Then I'll fight her. It's the right thing to do Charles. This rebirth is what we need. I know you have other things going on in your very lavish life. But I really want this Charles. I really need this.'

Charles paused. 'Draft up a proposal and then we will go see my mother. Maybe if your presentation is good enough, she will see what we can bring to the company.'

'Okay it's a start. I'll take that.' She smiled as she headed to her room to draft her plan.