Chapter 9 - The People at Sophia's Door
Police reached Sophia before we did.
The two visitors were not social workers.
They worked for a private "family stabilization" company hired by Vance Verwaltungs Holdings.
One carried unsigned intake forms.
The other had a transport authorization with Sophia's name printed across the top.
"Transport where?" Sophia demanded.
The officer read the address.
St. Brigid Wellness Center.
Sophia went pale.
"That's where Ingrid said I could recover after the birth."
Nina photographed everything.
"Do not sign a single page."
One of the visitors insisted they had been told Sophia was expecting them.
"By who?" I asked.
He looked at his phone.
"Peter Voller."
The police told them to leave.
That night Sophia stayed at a hotel under Nina's name.
I moved into my sister's apartment.
Lukas sent twenty-three messages.
Some apologized.
Some blamed Ingrid.
One said: YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND WHAT HAPPENS IF THE TRUST DOESN'T VEST.
I answered only once.
THEN EXPLAIN IT TO YOUR LAWYER.
The next morning, Nina obtained the original trust schedule.
The child clause mattered, but not for the reason Lukas claimed.
If no qualifying descendant existed by his fortieth birthday, voting control did not vanish.
It shifted.
To a charitable foundation.
The Vance family would lose control of the company.
"That's why they're panicking," Nina said.
I read the foundation name.
KARL VANCE INDUSTRIAL WORKERS FUND.
The employees would gain the voting block through trustees.
Then Nina pointed to a handwritten amendment request that had never been approved.
It proposed replacing the biological-descendant language with "acknowledged legal child."
The request was signed by Ingrid.
And witnessed by Peter Voller.
May you like
But the date made my skin go cold.
It had been drafted six months before Sophia became pregnant.
