Chapter 6 - THE TRUST
I thought I had misheard him.
“My trust?”
Dad's face darkened.
“You couldn't access her trust.”
Adrian swallowed.
“Not directly.”
Daniel immediately opened his laptop again.
“How?”
Adrian looked toward the police.
“I want an attorney.”
Dad smiled without warmth.
“Smartest thing you've said tonight.”
But Vanessa was still angry.
And angry people talk.
“He used collateral letters.”
Adrian spun toward her.
“Stop talking!”
She laughed.
“Why? You were about to leave me with everything.”
“You stole from the company!”
“And you lied to everyone!”
The officer separated them again.
I turned to Daniel.
“What are collateral letters?”
He hesitated.
“Documents representing financial backing.”
“From my trust?”
Dad's voice was sharp.
“Those should not exist without trustee approval.”
Vanessa crossed her legs.
“They didn't.”
Dad stared at her.
“Meaning?”
She looked directly at me.
“Meaning Adrian forged them.”
The room went silent.
Adrian shouted, “She's lying!”
“Am I?”
Vanessa pointed toward the safe.
“Bottom drawer. Blue folder.”
Daniel found it.
Dad opened the folder himself.
His expression changed as he read.
Then he handed me one page.
At the bottom was my signature.
Except I had never signed it.
My hands began shaking.
“That isn't mine.”
Dad looked at Adrian.
“You forged my daughter's signature.”
Adrian struggled against the officer holding his arm.
“No. My CFO handled those documents.”
“Your CFO doesn't know Claire's signature.”
“He had copies.”
Dad stepped closer.
“This just became much bigger than an assault charge.”
Adrian looked at me desperately.
“I was going to fix it.”
“Fix what?”
“The company.”
“You put my trust at risk.”
“It wasn't supposed to matter!”
I almost laughed.
“You forged my name on eighteen million dollars, and it wasn't supposed to matter?”
“I needed time.”
“For what?”
“To close the Weston acquisition.”
Dad's head snapped up.
“Weston?”
Adrian stopped talking.
Dad looked toward Daniel.
The attorney's eyes narrowed.
“What is it?” I asked.
Dad took a slow breath.
“Weston Logistics is one of our acquisition targets.”
I stared at him.
Adrian had been trying to buy a company my father's group also wanted.
“How did Adrian know that?”
Dad looked at my husband.
That question was worse than the financial fraud.
Because Sterling acquisitions were confidential.
Extremely confidential.
Only a handful of people knew.
Vanessa's smile disappeared.
Dad noticed.
He looked at her.
“You.”
She shook her head.
“No.”
“You knew.”
“I didn't.”
Dad took one step closer.
“Where did you get the Weston information?”
Vanessa's confidence cracked.
“I heard Adrian talking about it.”
Adrian stared at her.
“I heard it from you.”
Now everyone was looking at Vanessa.
She stood.
“I want a lawyer.”
Dad nodded.
“You should get one.”
She reached for her purse.
The officer stopped her.
“Not yet.”
Her face hardened.
Then her phone buzzed on the table.
The screen lit up.
One message.
You were supposed to be gone by midnight.
I saw the sender's initials.
D.S.
Dad saw them too.
And for the first time all night, my father looked genuinely shocked.
“Daniel,” he said quietly.
May you like
“Yes?”
“Find out where my brother is.”
