Chapter 3 - THE TRUST
Preston did not pretend he was confused.
That frightened Audrey more than if he had.
“How long have you known?” she asked.
He rubbed both hands over his face.
“Three months.”
Rocco stood.
“You knew about Sofia’s trust and said nothing?”
“I found a reference to it in old tax files.”
“Why were you in old tax files?” Gary asked.
Preston looked at Audrey.
“Because my mother told me your family was hiding assets from us.”
Audrey’s voice broke.
“Us?”
“I thought she meant from me as your husband.”
Rocco stepped closer.
“You thought marriage made you entitled to my dead wife’s estate?”
“No.”
“Then why disable the camera?”
Preston looked toward the hallway.
“My mother said she wanted to confront Audrey privately.”
Audrey laughed once, bitter and stunned.
“So you gave her privacy.”
“I didn’t know she would touch you.”
“You watched her grab me.”
Preston had no answer.
Rocco pointed toward the door.
“Get out.”
Audrey stopped him.
“No.”
Everyone looked at her.
She was pale, but her voice had steadied.
“I want to know what he knew.”
Gary opened a leather folder.
Sofia Bellini’s trust was simple in one place and brutal in another.
At the live birth of Audrey’s first child, thirty-one percent of Bellini Holdings would move into an irrevocable trust for that child.
Audrey would control the voting rights until the child turned twenty-five.
No spouse could serve as trustee.
No in-law could inherit those rights if Audrey died.
Preston stared at the clause.
“My mother said that clause was designed to humiliate our family.”
Rocco smiled coldly.
“It was designed to keep thieves away from my daughter.”
Gary turned the final page.
“There’s more.”
Attached to the trust was a sealed amendment dated one week before Sofia’s death.
The amendment had never been opened.
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Across the front, Sofia had written one sentence.
ONLY OPEN IF SOMEONE TRIES TO STOP THE CHILD FROM BEING BORN.
