Chapter 12 - The Clause
"What did he mean?"
Evelyn closed the conference room door.
"There is something I didn't tell you."
Anger flashed through me.
"Not today, Evelyn."
"Your father insisted on one final clause."
She opened the trust document.
If I died under suspicious circumstances, my voting shares would move to an independent board.
I knew that part.
What I did not know was the next line.
If criminal involvement by a spouse or immediate family member was suspected, the trustee could temporarily freeze distributions to every family beneficiary until the investigation concluded.
Including Daniel.
Including me.
"Why would Richard care?"
"Because he found the clause two weeks ago," Evelyn said. "Someone accessed an archived draft from Daniel's credentials."
I understood.
Richard knew killing me might freeze the money.
So why push me?
Marcus answered the question that afternoon.
"Because he had another document."
A second trust amendment surfaced from a private Nevada firm.
It appeared to revoke the suspicious-death clause and name Richard sole executor.
My signature was forged.
But unlike the proxy, this document had been prepared months earlier.
Before I became pregnant.
"Who drafted it?" I asked.
Evelyn read the lawyer's name.
Her face lost color.
"Rebecca Sloan."
The old girlfriend was not merely part of Richard's past.
She was an attorney.
And she had been helping him build a legal path to my fortune for years.
Marcus leaned forward.
"We found her."
"Where?"
"Monterey."
"Arrest her."
He shook his head.
"We can't."
May you like
"Why not?"
"Because Rebecca Sloan died three years ago."
