Chapter 11 - The Trap at the CourthouseThe courthouse doors closed at eleven.
We arrived at 10:17.
Margot went ahead with the legal team.
I stayed outside with Mom.
Grant was already inside.
So was Dad.
The moment I entered, every face turned toward me.
My father stood near the clerk's office.
His tuxedo was gone.
He wore a gray suit.
His expression was exhausted.
"Hazel."
I said nothing.
He looked at my mother.
"You betrayed me."
Mom answered:
"No."
"I trusted you."
"You lied to all of us."
He looked back at me.
"You think this is justice?"
"I think this is paperwork."
He almost smiled.
"You always were stubborn."
A clerk approached.
"Ms. Holloway?"
"Yes."
"We need to verify your identity."
I handed over my documents.
The clerk compared them.
Then frowned.
"This signature doesn't match."
Grant stepped forward.
"She has changed her signature."
Margot immediately interrupted.
"That's irrelevant. The signature on the filing was notarized without her presence."
The clerk looked uncomfortable.
"We're aware of the discrepancy."
"Then why was it accepted?"
"Because someone submitted supporting title documentation."
I looked at Grant.
"Who?"
The clerk checked.
"Mr. Grant Holloway."
Grant didn't deny it.
Margot asked, "Where is the deed?"
The clerk gestured toward a tray.
"It's been placed in review."
I looked at the document.
It was my grandmother's deed.
Real.
Original.
And suddenly it clicked.
Grandma had deliberately structured the property so my father could never transfer it.
But Grant had the original.
How?
I looked at Mom.
She whispered, "He took it from the safe."
Grant smiled.
"No."
He turned toward me.
"Your mother gave it to me."
Mom shook her head.
"I didn't."
Dad spoke.
"Enough."
The room went quiet.
He looked at me.
Then, unexpectedly, he said:
"Your brother didn't forge your signature."
I stared.
"What?"
"He didn't."
Grant looked at him.
"Dad..."
Frank continued.
"The signature came from Sienna."
Sienna, who had just entered the courthouse, stopped dead.
Her face went white.
Dad looked at her.
"You did it."
Sienna started crying.
"No."
"You copied Hazel's signature."
"I was told to."
"By who?"
Sienna looked at him.
Then at Grant.
Then at me.
"By Grant."
Grant cursed.
Mom covered her mouth.
The clerk stepped backward.
Margot said:
"This conversation is being recorded."
Grant's face changed.
"You can't record this."
"We can."
Frank stared at his son.
"I told you to fix this."
Grant looked at him.
"You told me to protect the family."
"You were supposed to get Hazel to sign."
"She wouldn't."
"So you forged it?"
Grant's voice broke.
"I had no choice."
I looked at him.
"You always had a choice."
He stared at me with pure anger.
"You think you earned all this?"
"What?"
"The properties."
"Yes."
He laughed.
"You didn't even know you owned them."
"That doesn't make them yours."
Grant stepped closer.
"You were never supposed to know."
There was silence.
My heart stopped.
"Know what?"
He said nothing.
I looked at Dad.
"What was I not supposed to know?"
Frank's face went gray.
Grant whispered:
"Grandma didn't build Harbor Eight for you."
My breath caught.
"Then why?"
He looked directly at me.
"Because she knew what our father would do to the business."
I stared.
"What does that mean?"
Grant's eyes filled with tears.
"The properties weren't supposed to protect you."
"Then who?"
He looked at Dad.
"They were supposed to protect all of us."
The courthouse doors opened.
A man stepped inside.
Charles Vale.
He held another folder.
May you like
And he said:
"That's not the whole story."
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