Chapter 4 - The Blue Folder
Police issued a request to locate Victoria, but Adrian knew where she would go.
Their late father's old estate sat forty minutes north of the city, empty except for a caretaker and a locked records room.
Victoria had always called it "the real family house."
Before Adrian could leave, Elena stopped him.
"I'm coming."
"No. Stay with Noah."
"My sister may have tried to hurt my son. Do not tell me to sit quietly."
Adrian saw the old Elena in her voice.
"Okay."
They left Noah with the pediatric nurse who had arrived at the mansion and took Daniel with them.
Lily asked to stay.
"Why?" Elena asked.
"Because if Victoria comes back, I want the baby to know one person here is watching."
Elena swallowed.
At the estate, the caretaker said Victoria had arrived twenty minutes earlier and gone straight to the records wing.
The door was locked from inside.
Adrian knocked.
"Victoria. Open it."
No answer.
Daniel used the emergency key.
The room smelled like paper and dust.
Victoria was gone.
A rear window stood open.
On the desk sat the blue folder.
She had left it behind.
Elena reached for it.
Adrian stopped her long enough to photograph everything first.
Inside were copies of Noah's birth certificate, Elena's medical records, Adrian's travel calendar, and a draft petition titled:
EMERGENCY TEMPORARY GUARDIANSHIP.
Proposed guardian:
VICTORIA MARSH.
Elena's knees weakened.
The petition described her as "emotionally unstable following childbirth."
It described Adrian as "chronically absent due to business travel."
It claimed Victoria had become Noah's primary caregiver.
"That's insane," Elena whispered.
"She barely changes a diaper."
Adrian turned another page.
A financial attachment listed a trust he had never seen before.
BENNETT FAMILY GENERATIONAL TRUST.
BENEFICIARY UPON FIRST MALE GRANDCHILD: NOAH BENNETT.
Asset value:
$86,400,000.
Elena stared at Adrian.
"You knew about this?"
"No."
Then Daniel found a handwritten note tucked into the back cover.
If Elena is declared unfit, control transfers to guardian until Noah turns eighteen.
May you like
Beneath it, in Victoria's handwriting:
Phase One failed. Use medical route.
