Chapter 14 - THE LAKE HOUSE
We did not go to the lake house ourselves.
Serena obtained the proper court order and coordinated with investigators.
I had learned something important from Adrian.
Power without procedure becomes another form of arrogance.
The search happened Tuesday morning.
Inside a locked office closet, investigators found banker boxes.
Trust amendments with my forged initials.
Copies of my passport.
Old signature samples.
A notary stamp belonging to a woman who had left our law firm two years earlier.
And a folder labeled E MEDICAL.
My medical records.
Some genuine.
Some altered.
One fabricated letter claimed a psychiatrist had recommended temporary removal from high-stress financial decisions.
The psychiatrist had never written it.
Marcus called me after the inventory.
"Ev, this was not just an idea. They were preparing to file."
"When?"
"The draft petition is dated Monday after your birthday."
I sat down.
If I had screamed at the party, hit Vanessa, threatened Adrian, or collapsed on camera, the petition would have had a story attached to it.
Instead, Adrian tied me up and assaulted me in front of fifty witnesses.
He created the evidence against himself.
Then Serena found one more document.
A postnuptial agreement.
My signature appeared on page fourteen.
It transferred substantial marital rights to Adrian and waived claims related to company equity.
I had never seen it.
The witness line was signed by Grant Ellis.
The notary line used the stolen stamp.
I called Julian.
"Where is Grant?"
"Still missing."
Daniel interrupted on the conference line.
"Not anymore."
His team had traced a login attempt to a hotel near O'Hare.
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Grant was in Chicago.
And according to hotel security footage, Barbara Cole had entered his room less than an hour earlier.
