Chapter 12 - THE LAWYER'S LAST CONTRACTRichard placed the envelope on the table.
I didn't touch it.
“You knew about all of this.”
“For thirty years.”
“You knew Gregory was my father.”
“Yes.”
“You knew Amanda was his daughter.”
“Yes.”
“You knew my wife was investigating.”
“Yes.”
“Then why didn't you stop it?”
Richard looked at me.
“Because stopping it would have started a war.”
“What war?”
“The war between the people who wanted the trust and the people who wanted to destroy it.”
I laughed.
“You're making this sound like some secret government.”
“It isn't a government.”
“What is it?”
“A private alliance.”
“Of what?”
“People who own institutions.”
Banks.
Insurance companies.
Construction groups.
Security firms.
Law offices.
Media companies.
Politicians.
Not one organization.
A web of influence.
Richard opened the envelope.
Inside were contracts.
Dozens.
“At the center is your family trust.”
He pointed at one page.
“Every failed attempt to seize it triggered another layer of protection.”
“And tonight?”
“Tonight they finally got close enough.”
“Because of Amanda.”
“Because of Sophie.”
I frowned.
“What do they want from a four-year-old?”
Richard looked at her.
“Her future signature.”
I didn't understand.
He explained.
“Certain assets require beneficiary confirmation once the child reaches eighteen.”
“So?”
“Those assets generate control rights.”
“In seven years.”
“Yes.”
“Then why attack now?”
“Because the current trustees can change the structure before she turns eighteen.”
“Who are the current trustees?”
Richard looked toward Clara.
She answered.
“You.”
I stared.
“Me?”
“Your wife named you.”
“I thought Gregory was trustee.”
“He was nominated.”
“But never appointed.”
Richard nodded.
“The papers you were supposed to sign tonight would have changed that.”
My stomach tightened.
“So the wedding contract was really a trustee transfer.”
“Yes.”
Amanda had been chosen because no one would suspect her.
And because she'd been connected to Gregory without knowing it.
I looked at Richard.
“Who ordered it?”
He sighed.
“I can give you a name.”
“Give it.”
“Your grandfather.”
I froze.
“My grandfather died twenty-eight years ago.”
Richard nodded.
“He created the network.”
My hands went cold.
“How is he ordering anything?”
“He isn't.”
Richard placed another photograph on the table.
It showed an elderly man in a hospital room.
Alive.
I stared.
“This was taken last month.”
No.
Impossible.
Richard spoke quietly.
“He staged his death.”
My entire understanding of my family collapsed.
“Why?”
“Because he believed the trust should never belong to a single person.”
“So he built a system to control it.”
“Yes.”
“And now?”
“Now he's trying to recover it.”
“By taking Sophie?”
“Yes.”
Something in me hardened.
“I won't let him.”
Richard nodded.
“That is why he needs you discredited.”
“And my father?”
“Your father became his enemy.”
“What about Amanda?”
Richard paused.
“Amanda was bait.”
I looked toward the door.
“Where is she?”
His expression changed.
“They took her.”
My heart stopped.
“Who?”
“Gregory.”
“Why?”
“Because she knows something.”
“What?”
Richard looked at the phone.
“The truth about your wedding.”
I stared.
“What truth?”
He lowered his voice.
“The ceremony was never meant to end.”
A cold feeling moved through me.
“What do you mean?”
“After the signing, they planned to announce Amanda's disappearance.”
“Her disappearance?”
“Yes.”
“They'd blame me.”
Richard nodded.
“Then police would arrest you.”
“And Sophie?”
“She'd be placed in emergency custody.”
I felt sick.
“And Gregory becomes trustee.”
“Yes.”
“Why make Amanda disappear?”
Richard hesitated.
“Because she was supposed to die.”
Silence.
I stared at him.
Then the phone buzzed.
A video message.
Amanda.
She was tied to a chair.
Her face was bruised.
Gregory stood behind her.
He leaned toward the camera.
“Daniel.”
He smiled.
“You wanted the truth.”
He held a piece of paper beside Amanda's face.
“Come to the old family cemetery.”
Amanda shook her head desperately.
Gregory whispered:
“Come alone.”
Then he smiled.
“Or your daughter learns what happened to her mother.”
The screen went black.
May you like
And for the first time that night, I realized this wasn't about protecting Sophie anymore.
It was about getting her mother’s killer to confess.
