Chapter 10 - The Guardianship Plan
Eleanor's petition described Sarah as unstable and Ethan as emotionally compromised by "marital dependency."
It claimed the Vance child would require a neutral family guardian.
Eleanor had already selected herself.
But one attachment was even worse.
A letter from a private pediatric specialist stating that Sarah's unborn child might require long-term medical supervision and should remain under estate-controlled care.
The letter was fake.
The doctor did not exist.
"She was building a legal cage," Sarah said.
Ethan nodded. "For all three of us."
Then Preston Hale disappeared.
His office was empty.
His house had been cleared of computers.
His bank accounts showed a wire transfer of two million dollars that morning to an offshore account.
Arthur studied the transaction list and frowned.
"This account number."
"What about it?"
"Robert wrote it in his ledger."
The handwritten ledger from the wine cellar contained years of suspicious payments.
One recurring code matched Preston's offshore account.
Beside the earliest payment Robert had written: Catherine inquiry.
Sarah looked at Ethan.
"Who's Catherine?"
His face changed.
"My mother."
Ethan's biological mother, Catherine Vance, had died when he was thirteen.
Officially, from complications after a riding accident.
Eleanor had married Robert two years later.
Arthur sat down slowly.
"Mr. Robert never believed the accident was simple."
"Why didn't anyone tell me?"
"Because you were a child. Then because your father stopped talking about it."
Ethan opened the ledger again.
Payments to Preston began three months after Catherine's death.
Not after Eleanor joined the family.
Before.
Sarah stared at the dates.
"Eleanor knew your father before your mother died."
Arthur's face went gray.
"More than knew him," he said.
"What are you saying?"
Arthur looked at Ethan.
May you like
"Your father confessed to me once that Eleanor had been his financial consultant before Catherine's accident."
Then he added, "And Catherine had hired a private investigator to look into her."
