Chapter 127: Half a Crown
The silver crown entered the meeting in a locked transparent case.
Sterling's authorized heritage custodian carried it from controlled storage under a written movement order. A Trust representative verified the serial description and intact seals. Security logged every person in the room.
Celeste did not wear it.
Neither did I.
The custodian placed the case at the center of the table and retained both keys.
The movement order authorized discussion of future display, not a ceremony. No photographer entered. The crown could not be removed from its case, pledged, transferred, or treated as a settlement asset.
"This is what everyone thinks we are fighting over," Celeste said.
"Then everyone is looking at the wrong record."
She opened a presentation beside the case. Her revised proposal kept her as CEO and gave me control of research. At public events, we would alternate as Sterling's representative. The crown would appear behind both sisters, proving the company had accepted two heirs.
"Half the company story for each of us," she said.
"The crown is not half yours to give."
"The Trust can approve the display."
"The Trust can evaluate a request. It cannot make symbolism replace governance."
Celeste dismissed the screen and leaned closer.
"You want my chair."
"No."
"You want my name removed from everything."
"I want names attached to what people actually did."
The crown caught the room light through the case. At the centennial, Celeste had placed it on her head while my work supported the stage beneath her. Now the provenance certificate sat in the Trust archive and the object remained company custody under conditions.
The evidence had reduced magic to title, custody, and use.
That made Celeste angrier.
She slid the case several inches toward the line between our seats. The custodian moved it back to the marked position. Even the gesture could not alter the chain.
"Mother wore this," she said.
"Helena wore it after a scientific award. Sterling borrowed it for display."
"You cannot turn every family thing into a contract."
"Conrad already did. He signed the loan."
The Trust representative confirmed that any future display required accurate attribution and an approved event plan. Alternating sisters would not cure false scientific claims unless the presentation itself did.
Celeste changed direction.
"If I support naming you as primary inventor everywhere, will you support the split?"
"Will you support release of the complete accident record through lawful review?"
She looked at the case.
"Some records are privileged."
"Then assert privilege page by page. Will you support independent completion of the record?"
She did not answer.
I asked again.
"Will you stop demanding a protected participant's private life and allow relevant consent evidence to remain sealed?"
"That makes it impossible to defend the company publicly."
"It makes defense happen where evidence can be tested."
Celeste's counsel asked for a break.
She refused.
For almost a minute, no one spoke. The silence did not prove she had changed the report five years earlier. It proved the bargain failed when accurate credit required accountable process.
Her counsel preserved that the settlement exchange could not be used as an admission. Rhea agreed. The question mattered to my answer, not to authentication of the old record.
Celeste could share a stage.
She would not share control with a record.
The meeting ended without agreement.
The custodian inspected the seals, locked the movement log, and returned the crown to Sterling's heritage vault. The Trust representative signed the return. No ownership changed. No sister carried the object away.
That was the local result.
Celeste had offered half a symbol while keeping the rules that made it useful to her.
I had not accepted.
I had not yet issued my formal answer to the wider term sheet.
Rhea placed the proposal, questions, and nonanswers into the confidential settlement file. They would not be used as proof of the old incident.
The next morning, the board scheduled my response.
Celeste had offered me half a crown.
I would answer whether I wanted any throne at all.