Morning Noon & Night by Sidney Sheldon

to different boarding schools.
    As the years went by, the children saw very little of their father. They read about him in newspapers, or watched him on television, escorting beautiful women or chatting with celebrities, but the only time they were with him was on what he called “occasions”—photo opportunities at Christmastime or other holidays—to show what a devoted father he was. After that, the children were sent back to their different schools and camps until the next “occasion.”
    Tyler sat hypnotized by what he was watching. On the television screen was a montage of factories in different parts of the world, with pictures of his father. “…one of the largest privately held conglomerates in the world. Harry Stanford, who created it, was a legend…The question in the minds of Wall Street experts is, What is going to happen to the family-owned company now that its founder is gone? Harry Stanford left three children, but it is not known who will inherit the multibillion-dollar fortune that Stanford left behind, or who will control the corporation.…”
    He was six years old. He loved roaming around the large house, exploring all the exciting rooms. The only place that was off-limits to him was his father’s office. Tyler was aware that important meetings went on in there. Impressive-looking men dressed in dark suits were constantly coming and going, meeting with his father. The fact that the office was off-limits to Tyler made it irresistible.
    One day when his father was away, Tyler decided to go into the office. The huge room was overpowering, awesome. Tyler stood there, looking at the large desk and at the huge leather chair that his father sat in. One day I’m going to sit in that chair, and I’m going to be important like Father . He moved over to the desk and examined it. There were dozens of official-looking papers on it. He moved around to the back of the desk and sat in his father’s chair. It felt wonderful. I’m important now, too!
    “ What the hell are you doing ?”
    Tyler looked up, startled. His father stood in the doorway, furious.
    “Who told you you could sit behind that desk?”
    The young boy was trembling. “I…I just wanted to see what it was like.…”
    His father stormed over to him. “Well, you’ll never know what it’s like! Never! Now get the hell out of here and stay out !”
    Tyler ran upstairs, sobbing, and his mother came to his room. She put her arms around him. “Don’t cry, darling. It’s going to be all right.”
    “It’s…it’s not going to be all right,” he sobbed. “He…he hates me!”
    “No. He doesn’t hate you.”
    “All I did was to sit in his chair.”
    “It’s his chair, darling. He doesn’t want anyone to sit in it.”
    He could not stop crying. She held him close and said, “Tyler, when your father and I were married, he said he wanted me to be part of his company. He gave me one share of stock. It was kind of a family joke. I’m going to give you that share. I’ll put it in a trust for you. So now you’re part of the company, too. All right?”
    There were one hundred shares of stock in Stanford Enterprises, and Tyler was now a proud owner of one share.
    When Harry Stanford heard what his wife had done, he scoffed, “What the hell do you think he’s going to do with that one share? Take over the company?”
    Tyler switched off the television set and sat there, adjusting to the news. He felt a deep sense of satisfaction. Traditionally, sons wanted to be successful to please their fathers. Tyler Stanford had longed to be a success so he could destroy his father.
    As a child, he had a recurring dream that his father was charged with murdering his mother, and Tyler was the one who would pass sentence. I sentence you to die in the electric chair! Sometimes the dream would vary, and Tyler would sentence his father to be hanged or poisoned or shot. The dreams became almost real.
    The military school he was sent to was in Mississippi,