Chapter 4 - The Signature That Was Never Hers
Clara stared at the investigator.
“What transfer?”
He removed a document from his folder.
“A preliminary deed assigning this estate to Whitlock Development.”
Mr. Bell crossed the ballroom in three quick steps.
“That deed does not exist.”
The investigator handed him the paper.
Mr. Bell studied the signature.
His face darkened.
“It does now.”
Andrew looked at Clara.
“I have never seen that.”
Patricia interrupted immediately.
“Of course you have not.”
Her answer came too quickly.
Clara noticed.
So did the investigator.
He turned toward Patricia.
“Mrs. Whitlock, we did not ask you.”
Patricia folded her arms.
“I am only protecting my son.”
The investigator pointed to a date at the bottom of the document.
“This was notarized six weeks ago.”
Clara remembered that day.
She had been in Boston attending a design conference.
She looked at Andrew.
“You told me you were meeting investors that afternoon.”
“I was.”
“Where?”
“At the Hawthorne Club.”
The second investigator opened a tablet.
“Security records show you entered the Hawthorne Club at 2:11 p.m.”
Andrew nodded quickly.
“Exactly.”
“And left nine minutes later.”
His confidence disappeared.
The investigator continued.
“You then visited the office of Gregory Hale.”
Clara knew the name.
Gregory Hale was Patricia’s private attorney.
Andrew looked at his mother.
“What did you tell them?”
Patricia kept her voice steady.
“That Clara wanted to protect the estate after the marriage.”
Clara stepped toward her.
“You forged my name.”
“I did no such thing.”
Mr. Bell raised the deed.
“The transfer gives Whitlock Development full control.”
Clara looked at the clause beneath the signature.
The property would become collateral for a forty-million-dollar commercial loan.
Her stomach twisted.
“You were going to mortgage my estate.”
Andrew’s eyes widened.
“Forty million?”
Patricia snapped.
“The company needed liquidity.”
“You were going to risk everything she owned.”
“I was going to save what your father built.”
Andrew’s anger finally broke.
“My father built that company for the workers.”
“You turned it into a personal bank.”
Patricia slapped him.
The sound echoed through the ballroom.
Andrew stood frozen.
Patricia leaned close to his face.
“Everything you have came from me.”
“Your education.”
“Your house.”
“Your reputation.”
“Even this woman.”
Clara’s eyes narrowed.
“What does that mean?”
Patricia looked at her.
“You really believe Andrew found you by accident?”
Andrew went pale.
Clara turned toward him.
“What is she talking about?”
He said nothing.
Again.
That same cowardly silence.
Patricia smiled despite the investigators standing beside her.
“I chose you.”
Clara felt the floor shift beneath her.
Patricia continued.
“I knew your grandmother owned this estate.”
“I knew it would eventually pass to you.”
Clara looked at Andrew.
“You knew?”
His lips parted.
“Not at first.”
The answer destroyed whatever remained.
“When did you find out?”
“Three months after we started dating.”
“And you stayed silent for two years.”
“I loved you.”
“You loved what I would inherit.”
“No.”
Andrew reached for her.
She stepped back.
The torn silk slipped from her hand.
The ruined dress opened slightly at the shoulder.
She did not care anymore.
Patricia’s smile grew cruel.
“You were never supposed to find out until after the wedding.”
Clara felt something inside her go completely still.
The investigator moved toward Patricia.
“You need to come with us.”
She turned toward Andrew.
“Do not let them take me.”
Andrew did not move.
For one second, Clara thought justice had finally arrived.
Then the ballroom lights went out.
A woman screamed.
Glass shattered.
Someone pushed Clara from behind.
She fell hard against the marble floor.
May you like
When the emergency lights came on, Patricia was gone.
And the ownership folder had disappeared with her.
