Chapter 7 - The Price of a White Dress
The forgery on the sale agreement wasn't the only one. Marcus found six signatures in my name: consent forms, tax filings, a loan authorization, and a release of claims against the estate. Whoever made them had studied the way I crossed my t's.
"Juliette could've copied old checks," I said.
"Or somebody with access to the family office," he replied.
Bernard Kessler had handled our accounts for twenty years. Dad trusted him with everything. After Mom died, I had questioned Bernard's push to sell the wetlands. He'd smiled across the kitchen table and called me sentimental.
Now the sale would earn Juliette almost eighteen million dollars, much of it borrowed against properties I supposedly no longer owned. Northline's managing director sat on Evan Mercer's investment board.
"Does Evan know?" Ruth asked.
"I haven't found evidence that he does," Marcus said. "But the wedding puts both families in one room before the financing closes."
We met a forensic records examiner. The registration number on my death certificate belonged to a different case, and the medical examiner's signature had been scanned from a form written before the fire. Marcus requested sealed warrants and a freeze on the disputed assets.
Two days later, Ruth's apartment door was kicked in. Nothing valuable was stolen. Someone had smashed her laptop and left the silver ring Mom gave me centered on the kitchen table.
A note beneath it read: ONE MORE STEP AND SHE GOES BACK INTO THE DARK.
Ruth found me sitting on the bathroom floor, unable to stop shaking.
"They still think they own you," she said. "They don't."
Marcus arranged a safe place and asked me to stay out of sight while he prepared the arrests. But when I saw Juliette's wedding announcement again, a thought settled in my chest.
May you like
"She built her whole life on my funeral," I said. "I want her to look at me when that life falls apart."
Marcus hesitated. "Then you need to know something. Your father is listed as a witness on one of the forged documents."
