Chapter 7 - THE PERSON BEHIND THE NAME
Marissa's identity had been stolen.
Again.
The prescription was fake.
The pharmacy records confirmed someone had presented an altered driver's license.
But the security footage revealed something unexpected.
The person wasn't Marissa.
It was a man.
A man wearing a baseball cap.
His face was partially visible.
Helen enlarged the image.
I recognized him.
Colin.
My sister's husband.
Marissa stared at the screen.
“No…”
Colin was taken into custody.
Under questioning, he finally confessed.
But his confession wasn't the ending.
It was the beginning.
He admitted he had helped Teresa and Richard move money.
He admitted forging documents.
He admitted arranging the fake lease.
But he insisted he had never harmed my father.
“Then who did?” I demanded.
Colin looked at me.
“I don't know.”
“Where is Richard?”
He hesitated.
“Gone.”
“Where?”
“I don't know.”
Helen placed the photograph of Richard on the table.
“You've been working for him.”
Colin shook his head.
“Not anymore.”
“Then tell us what he wanted.”
Colin's voice dropped.
“He wanted the trust.”
“Why?”
“Because your father didn't leave you money.”
I frowned.
“What?”
“He left you control.”
Helen went still.
Colin continued.
“Your father owned intellectual property tied to several manufacturing patents. The assets were worth far more than the house.”
I had never known.
The patents had been held in a private trust.
And when I turned thirty-five, control transferred to me.
Richard didn't want my house.
He wanted the company.
The company could be worth tens of millions.
Suddenly everything made sense.
The birthday party.
The money.
The forged documents.
The attempt to isolate Amy.
My mother wasn't trying to steal a house.
She was trying to control the person who owned an empire.
And then Colin revealed the final part.
“Richard has been meeting with investors.”
“Where?”
“Tomorrow.”
Helen leaned forward.
“Where?”
Colin gave us an address.
A private conference center downtown.
He believed Richard planned to present forged ownership documents to potential buyers.
If successful, he could sell assets that legally belonged to me.
But there was a problem.
Richard needed my signature.
Or my death.
I felt the room go silent.
Amy grabbed my hand.
“We're not going anywhere alone.”
I nodded.
For the first time that night, I realized how close we had come to losing everything.
Then my mother stood.
She looked at me.
“I know where Richard keeps the original documents.”
Everyone froze.
“Where?”
She whispered:
“Your father's old office.”
I had not been inside that office since his funeral.
Teresa looked toward the hallway.
“There is a safe behind the fireplace.”
“What's inside?”
Her eyes filled with tears.
“The proof that I betrayed your father.”
I stared at her.
“And Richard?”
She shook her head.
“The proof that Richard killed him.”
The next morning, we went to the old office.
The safe was still there.
Hidden behind a painting.
And when I opened it, I found my father's final letter.
May you like
It began:
My son, if you're reading this, they finally came for you.
