Chương 7 - The Blue FolderDiane demanded a meeting.
No police.
No lawyers.
Just Ethan.
Harris laughed when Ethan read the message.
“You’re not doing that.”
Ethan agreed.
They arranged a monitored meeting in a private room at Monica’s office.
Diane arrived with Mark.
That answered one question.
She was not protecting him.
They were together in this.
Diane placed the blue folder on the table.
“You’ve turned Lily against me.”
Ethan’s voice stayed flat.
“You told my daughter she didn’t deserve food.”
“I taught her discipline.”
“She was six.”
“She was manipulative.”
Mark touched Diane’s arm.
She shook him off.
Then she pointed at the folder.
“Rachel wasn’t innocent.”
Ethan felt anger rise.
“Be careful.”
“She moved money too.”
Monica opened the folder.
Inside were trust statements.
Rachel had transferred $80,000 from a joint investment account shortly before her death.
Diane smiled.
“See?”
Monica kept reading.
Then looked up.
“This transfer went into a medical reserve for Lily.”
Diane’s smile vanished.
The account funded future therapy, school counseling, and care if Rachel died.
Every dollar remained untouched.
Ethan almost laughed.
Diane had stolen the folder without understanding it.
Then Monica found another page.
A draft amendment naming an independent professional trustee.
Not Diane.
Not Ethan.
Independent.
Rachel had wanted to remove all family members from direct control after discovering the fraud risk.
Mark leaned forward.
“That draft was never executed.”
Monica looked at him.
“How do you know?”
Silence.
He had just admitted knowledge of a confidential document.
Harris entered from the adjoining room.
Mark stood.
“Absolutely not.”
Harris said, “Sit down.”
Diane looked at Mark.
“What did you do?”
Interesting.
Maybe they did not share everything.
Harris placed a bank-access log on the table.
“You opened Rachel Cole’s estate file six times without authorization.”
Mark’s face changed.
Diane whispered:
“You said those records were clean.”
Mark looked at her.
“They were supposed to be.”
The room went silent.
Ethan leaned forward.
“Supposed to be?”
Mark realized too late what he had said.
Then Diane turned toward Ethan.
“There’s something you need to know.”
She pointed at Mark.
“He told me Rachel had already changed the trust.”
Mark went pale.
May you like
Diane continued.
“He told me the only way to keep control was to make Lily look unstable too.”
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