Chapter 5 - The Safe
We returned to the house just after midnight.
Christmas lights still glowed over the house. Inside, my ring was still beside Ryan's plate.
The brown envelope was gone.
Charles led me to his study.
The wall safe stood open.
Inside were empty shelves.
"What was here?" I asked.
"The original Morgan trust agreement. Corporate certificates. Your father's promissory note. Old board minutes."
"Everything that proves I own the house?"
"Copies exist. But originals matter when people start claiming fraud."
I looked at him. "Would Ryan know the combination?"
"No."
"Diane?"
Charles didn't answer quickly enough.
"She knew."
He sat down heavily.
"I changed it last year. She must have watched me."
A housekeeper named Rosa appeared at the study door, still wearing her Christmas apron.
"Mr. Bennett?"
Her hands were shaking.
"I saw Mrs. Bennett leave."
"Was Ryan with her?"
"Yes. And Mr. Sloan."
Victor.
Charles stood.
"Victor was here?"
"He came through the side entrance about ten minutes after you left for the hospital."
My blood ran cold.
"Did they take anything?"
Rosa nodded.
"A black document case. Mrs. Bennett told me it was none of my business."
Then she looked at me.
"Mrs. Emily... she said something else."
"What?"
"She told Mr. Ryan, 'If she files before Monday, we lose everything.'"
Files what?
Charles moved to his computer.
"The trust transfer. Emily turned thirty-five, but the county recording still has to be updated. If Diane gets a competing deed recorded first, she can create a legal mess even if she eventually loses."
I stared at the open safe.
"So this isn't about throwing me out."
"No."
"They need me gone long enough to steal the house on paper."
Charles looked at me.
"And maybe more than the house."
He clicked open a company ledger.
A payment list filled the screen.
Every month, money had moved from Bennett Development into North Ridge Consulting.
The recipient account belonged to Ryan.
But the approval code belonged to someone else.
May you like
Charles whispered the name.
"Diane."
