Chapter 8 - THE SCHOOL TRANSFER THAT EXPOSED THE INSIDE TRAITOR
Only three people had access to Sadi’s full school records.
Me.
The school registrar.
Our family attorney.
That was what we thought.
Then investigators found a fourth.
Ravi’s family office had accessed her records after the paternity discovery.
Authorized by:
Ravi’s longtime attorney, Victor Hale.
Ravi went still.
“Hale?”
He had worked for the family twenty-three years.
Handled trusts.
Succession.
Guardianship.
Everything Arjun needed.
We did not confront him.
Again.
Evidence first.
His email showed communication with Arjun.
At first legal.
Then secret.
Hale believed Sadi’s inheritance should remain “inside blood control.”
That phrase made me furious.
He had created the school transfer.
Not to kidnap Sadi directly.
To prepare paperwork so an emergency custody order could move her quickly if Arjun won temporary paternity rights.
Ravi read the email silently.
Then said:
“Fire him.”
I corrected:
“Suspend him and preserve evidence.”
He looked at me.
“Right.”
Progress.
Victor Hale was arrested for fraud and conspiracy.
He turned on Arjun immediately.
Apparently loyalty had market limits.
Hale revealed Arjun’s location.
A lake house in Wisconsin.
Police prepared arrest.
Then Ravi’s security chief entered.
“Arjun is gone.”
“How?”
“Hale warned him before arrest.”
Of course.
But Hale also revealed one thing Arjun did not know.
The Greedy family trust did not actually give a parent full control of Sadi’s interest.
A hidden amendment created by Ravi’s mother changed it.
Why?
Because she distrusted her sons.
Smart woman.
If any heir was a minor, independent trustees controlled voting rights regardless of parental status.
Arjun’s entire plan had been based on the old version.
He murdered.
Stole.
Manipulated.
For power he could never legally obtain.
I almost laughed.
Then Ravi’s face changed.
“What?”
He read the amendment.
“My mother named one trustee.”
“Who?”
Ravi looked at me.
“Michael Harper.”
My father.
He had been trustee for Sadi’s future interest.
Because Ravi’s mother trusted him.
Then after his death, successor trustee:
Diane Harper.
I stared.
“No.”
The attorney nodded.
“You.”
“I have forty-seven dollars.”
“Financial sophistication is not measured by account balance.”
I hated that the sentence sounded inspiring.
“I’m a waitress.”
“You’re also Sadi’s legal guardian.”
The trust had chosen the person who raised her.
Not the richest.
Not the most powerful.
Me.
Then another clause:
At age eighteen, Sadi could remove all trustees and choose her own structure.
Choice preserved.
Good.
Then Ravi said quietly:
“That means Arjun cannot control her money.”
“Even if he gets paternity?”
“No.”
I exhaled.
Then Sadi entered the room holding Mr. Bear—her old stuffed rabbit she had kept since childhood.
“What are you all talking about?”
I told her.
Not every legal detail.
Enough.
She frowned.
“So Dad killed Mom and Dad for money he can’t even use?”
Ravi answered:
“Yes.”
Sadi shook her head.
“That is very stupid.”
No one disagreed.
Then she held up the stuffed rabbit.
“I found something.”
Inside the torn seam was a memory card.
Dad again.
May you like
Of course.
He had hidden one final message with the child he trusted most.
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