Chapter 11 - THE NAME HIDDEN IN THE MILLIONAIRE'S EMPIRERita sat beside Maryjane's hospital bed, staring at the document in her hands.
Amanda's name appeared beside a block of shares in Benedict Holdings Limited.
According to the attached schedule, she had a beneficial interest in twelve percent of one of her father's oldest companies.
Rita read the document again.
It made no sense.
Amanda was the daughter of a struggling roadside food seller.
She had worked in Mr. Andrews's mansion because she needed money for school.
She had worn secondhand clothes and sometimes gone hungry.
How could someone living in such poverty own part of a multimillion-naira company?
Maryjane noticed Rita's expression.
"What is it?"
Rita looked up.
"Do you know why Amanda's name is connected to my father's company?"
Maryjane frowned.
"Amanda?"
"Yes. Amanda Ngozika."
Maryjane shook her head.
"I don't know anyone by that name."
Rita passed her the document.
Maryjane examined it carefully.
Then she pointed toward one section.
"This isn't an ordinary shareholder list."
"What do you mean?"
"It says 'Beneficial Interests and Historical Ownership Claims.'"
Rita looked closer.
Maryjane continued.
"That means someone may have a claim to ownership even if the company hasn't been treating them as a recognized shareholder."
Rita stared at her.
"How do you know that?"
Maryjane hesitated.
"I worked as an administrative assistant at an investment company before I met Benedict."
Rita was surprised.
For some reason, she had never imagined Maryjane working.
She had only seen the expensive clothes, the arrogance, and the way she demanded that servants obey her.
Maryjane lowered the papers.
"I didn't grow up wealthy, Rita."
Rita said nothing.
"And I wasn't always like the person you met in that house."
Rita looked at her.
"Then why did you become that person?"
Maryjane's eyes filled with tears.
"Because I thought being rich meant never feeling powerless again."
Rita studied her.
For the first time, Maryjane wasn't demanding sympathy.
She was simply admitting the truth.
"Money didn't make you cruel," Rita said quietly. "You made those choices yourself."
Maryjane nodded.
"I know."
Rita folded the document.
"I need to show this to my mother."
That evening, Felicia examined the papers at their apartment.
She recognized the company immediately.
Benedict Holdings had begun as a small transportation and property development business many years earlier.
Before Chief Benedict became wealthy, he had worked with several investors.
One of them was a man named Emmanuel Okorie.
Felicia looked up.
"Rita, where did you get this?"
"Daddy's lawyer accidentally included it with the documents he sent me."
Felicia's expression changed.
"Emmanuel Okorie..."
Rita leaned forward.
"Do you know him?"
"I met him once, before you were born. He was one of your father's early business partners."
"What happened to him?"
Felicia thought carefully.
"He died many years ago. Benedict rarely spoke about him afterward."
Rita felt a strange excitement.
"Mommy, Amanda once told me her father died when she was little."
Felicia nodded slowly.
"That could be a coincidence."
"But what if it isn't?"
They looked at each other.
Felicia took out her phone and contacted an attorney she trusted.
By the next afternoon, they had confirmed something extraordinary.
Amanda's late father, Emmanuel Okorie, had helped establish one of Chief Benedict's earliest businesses.
He contributed land rights, equipment, and money when the company was struggling.
In exchange, he received a twelve-percent ownership interest.
His original agreement provided that his interest would pass to his lawful heirs.
When Emmanuel died, Amanda was still a child.
Ngozika knew her husband had worked with Benedict, but she had never understood the full details of the investment.
Chief Benedict had claimed the business failed and that nothing remained.
Yet the company had survived.
It had grown.
And its original assets had become part of an enormously valuable enterprise.
Over the years, the interest that should have been accounted for in Emmanuel's estate had remained under arrangements controlled by Benedict.
The newly discovered schedule did not establish that Amanda already possessed unrestricted ownership of twelve percent of the modern conglomerate.
But it revealed an unresolved legal claim that could be worth a fortune.
Rita stared at the information.
"Oh my God."
Felicia looked equally shocked.
"Your father knew Emmanuel had a family."
"Then why didn't he tell them?"
Felicia didn't answer.
She had lived with Benedict long enough to know what greed could do to him.
Meanwhile, Chief Benedict was sitting inside his office when his personal attorney entered.
"Sir, we have a problem."
Benedict frowned.
"What now?"
"The historical ownership schedule was included in the documents sent to your daughter."
Benedict stopped moving.
"What?"
"I'm afraid Rita received a copy."
Chief Benedict slowly stood.
"How could you be so careless?"
The lawyer remained calm.
"Sir, the issue isn't simply that she received it. The underlying records are being reviewed because of the pending restructuring."
Benedict walked toward the window.
For many years, he had believed the past was safely buried.
Emmanuel Okorie had trusted him.
That trust had helped Benedict build his empire.
But when Emmanuel died, Benedict had found ways to control the assets without properly accounting to the man's widow and child.
He had told himself that Ngozika lacked the business knowledge to manage such an interest.
Later, he told himself that he had earned the wealth because he did the work of growing the company.
Eventually, he stopped thinking about Emmanuel altogether.
Until Amanda appeared at his foundation's charity event.
He had recognized her surname when he saw her registration form.
After learning who her father was, he quietly discouraged inquiries about her family's old business documents.
And now she was back.
Not as a frightened young woman asking for charity.
But as someone with a potentially enforceable claim.
Benedict turned toward his lawyer.
"Contact our outside counsel. I want every legitimate option for resolving this quietly."
"Sir, if the old records are authentic, disclosure and proper accounting may be unavoidable."
Benedict's jaw tightened.
"Then find out who has them."
The lawyer hesitated.
"There's something else you need to know."
"What?"
"The company secretary reviewed the original shareholder register this morning."
"And?"
"He says there is a signed document that appears to transfer Emmanuel's interest."
Benedict felt relief.
"Good."
The lawyer shook his head.
"Sir, the signature has raised concerns."
Benedict stared.
May you like
The lawyer lowered his voice.
"Because the transfer document is dated six months after Emmanuel Okorie died."
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