Chapter 11 - THE SIGNATURE
Victor knew his signature.
The one on the altered agreement looked perfect.
Too perfect.
Claire enlarged the scan.
“It may be copied from another document, but we need a forensic examiner.”
Victor remembered the signing dinner two weeks earlier. Serena had brought a stack of charity forms into his study while he was on a call.
“Just initials,” she had said.
He had signed without reading every page.
His father would have called that arrogance disguised as efficiency.
Victor called the bank.
He froze all pending changes to personal trusts.
Then he froze Serena’s authorized household accounts.
Within an hour, Serena’s attorney sent a furious letter accusing Victor of intimidation.
Within two hours, Serena herself called from an unknown number.
He answered on speaker with Detective Ellis present.
“You’ve lost your mind,” Serena said.
“You hurt my son.”
“I restrained a child during a tantrum.”
“You forged my signature.”
Silence.
Then Serena laughed softly.
“You really think this is about money?”
“What is it about?”
“Survival.”
Victor’s eyes narrowed.
“Whose?”
Serena ignored the question.
“You should be careful who you trust, Victor. Lily is not who you think she is.”
Victor looked toward the doorway. Lily stood there holding Ethan.
“What does that mean?”
Serena said, “Ask her why she applied for this job under a different last name.”
The line went dead.
Victor turned.
Lily’s face had gone still.
“Is that true?”
“Yes.”
Victor felt another piece of the floor shift beneath him.
“What was your real name?”
May you like
Lily swallowed.
“Lily Caldwell.”
