Chapter 4 - ANNA'S LAST FILE
Anna had been an estate lawyer before Emma was born.
Christopher did not know she had quietly resumed investigating Pierce family records.
Her memo identified a hidden amendment.
If Emma died before age eight, her thirty-four percent reverted to Eleanor's senior-family trust.
Emma's eighth birthday was six weeks away.
The pool incident had a deadline.
Then Anna wrote:
The amendment appears invalid. Thomas Pierce's signature is dated two years after his death.
"My father was dead when this was signed."
"If the signature is forged, Emma's shares never revert to Eleanor."
They remain protected for Emma or her descendants.
That meant Eleanor's plan depended on Anna's discovery staying buried.
Brooks reopened Anna's crash.
Official cause: wet road and brake failure.
Christopher remembered Eleanor insisting the car be scrapped quickly.
"Too painful," she had said.
He had agreed.
Because he was grieving.
Because he trusted his mother.
Pierce Fleet records showed the car was never crushed.
Inside the glove compartment was a dead digital recorder.
The memory still worked.
Anna's voice filled the warehouse.
"If anything happens to me, Eleanor knows I found the forged amendment."
"Stephen Vale helped her create it. Robert Keene moved the trust papers. And someone named Victor Hale is financing the merger."
"Victor Hale owns Hale Meridian Fund."
Juliette's older brother.
Or so she had always said.
Then Anna added one final sentence.
"Christopher still thinks his mother protects the family. I think she protects control."
The brake line had been replaced.
Not corroded.
Cut and patched with a weakened section designed to fail under pressure.
Someone had sabotaged Anna's car.
"Sir, Dr. Stephen Vale just tried to access Emma's medical records."
May you like
"What for?"
"To add an allergy she doesn't have."
