Chapter 2 - The Agreement Before the Wedding
Samuel drove me to a small hotel twenty miles away.
He did not ask about the divorce papers until we were inside a private conference room.
Then he locked the door.
“Your father knew the Vances were in trouble before you married Ryan.”
“What kind of trouble?”
“Debt. Hidden debt.”
He slid a balance sheet toward me.
Vance Development had owed nearly forty-eight million dollars to three lenders.
My father had never told me.
“He wanted to stop the wedding?”
“No. He wanted to protect you if he was wrong.”
Samuel opened another folder.
The document was called the Carter Family Continuity Trust.
I read it twice.
My father had placed his controlling interest in Carter Land & Infrastructure into a protected trust before my wedding. Ryan’s family received management rights over a portion of the assets after Dad died, but only temporarily.
The rights ended under three conditions.
Fraud.
Divorce initiated by a Vance spouse.
Or the birth of my biological child during the marriage.
I stared at Samuel.
“Birth?”
“Yes.”
“Ryan doesn’t know I’m pregnant.”
“Keep it that way.”
A cold pressure spread through my chest.
“Why?”
Samuel tapped the second page.
“If Ryan files for divorce while believing you are childless, Victoria can try to force a settlement before the trust receives notice of a living heir.”
“But the baby isn’t born.”
“No. Which gives them a window.”
I looked at the signature page.
Ryan had signed an acknowledgment eleven years earlier.
“He knew?”
“He knew enough.”
My phone finally powered on after charging.
Thirty-one messages appeared.
The newest was from Ryan.
WHERE ARE YOU?
Then another.
CALL ME NOW. WE NEED TO FIX SOMETHING IN THE DIVORCE PAPERS.
Samuel read it over my shoulder.
His face hardened.
“They already know something went wrong.”
Before I could answer, the hotel room phone rang.
Samuel picked it up.
His expression changed.
“What?”
May you like
He listened, then looked at me.
“The lock on your father’s old records room was broken tonight.”
