Chapter 7 - The ShredderPolice could not simply break into Grant’s office without legal grounds.
But Harris had enough to request preservation orders and begin securing financial records.
Nathan wanted to drive there himself.
Claire stopped him.
“Don’t become part of their story.”
He looked at her.
“What story?”
“The angry son. The unstable husband. The man they can blame when this turns ugly.”
She was right.
By morning, Rachel obtained an emergency court order freezing any transfer of Sophie’s trust shares.
The judge also barred Margaret from filing additional guardianship requests without notice.
Then Nathan arranged a new DNA test.
This time at a hospital.
Observed collection.
Nathan.
Claire.
Sophie.
No private couriers.
No family advisers.
Results would take forty-eight hours.
Margaret finally called.
Nathan put her on speaker with Rachel present.
“You’re humiliating this family,” she said.
Nathan almost laughed.
“You assaulted my wife.”
“She attacked me first.”
Claire looked at him.
No.
Margaret continued.
“She stole documents.”
“She found forged documents about her own child.”
“You don’t understand what’s at stake.”
“Then explain it.”
Silence.
Nathan waited.
Margaret’s voice softened.
“Your father was sick at the end.”
“He had a heart attack.”
“He was paranoid before that.”
Nathan looked at Rachel.
Same tactic.
Question the person who found the problem.
Margaret said:
“Grant helped your father through a lot. That audit was nonsense.”
“If it was nonsense, why shred records?”
Silence again.
Then Margaret made a mistake.
“We weren’t shredding the audit records.”
Nathan looked at Rachel.
He had never said which records.
Margaret realized it too late.
Nathan spoke quietly.
“What were you shredding?”
She hung up.
Harris called ten minutes later.
A judge had signed the warrant.
Police entered Grant’s office.
The shredder bags were still there.
So was Margaret.
And in Grant’s desk they found a file labeled:
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Nathan’s hands began to shake.
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