Chapter 7 - THE LEAK INSIDE THE LAW OFFICE
Henry read the letter himself.
His face changed with every line.
“I never told Diane.”
“Someone did,” Grant said.
Henry nodded.
Only four people at his firm had access to the sealed trust instructions.
Henry.
His senior partner.
A paralegal named Janet Rowe.
And a junior attorney.
I asked the junior attorney’s name.
Henry hesitated.
“Elliot Vance.”
There it was again.
My mother’s lawyer.
The man expecting forty-two thousand dollars.
Henry immediately called his firm.
Elliot had not come to work that morning.
His office computer had been wiped.
Diane stopped pretending.
“You’re making this sound criminal.”
Henry stared at her.
“Because it may be.”
“You don’t understand.”
“Then explain.”
She didn’t.
Instead, she looked at me.
“Natalie, your grandfather was becoming irrational.”
Henry’s face hardened.
“Charles underwent multiple competency evaluations during estate planning.”
“I know what I saw.”
“What did you see?” I asked.
Diane’s eyes filled with something that looked almost like grief.
“He hated me.”
That surprised me.
My grandfather could be stern, but I had never thought he hated Mom.
Brielle laughed bitterly.
“He didn’t hate you. He caught you.”
Silence.
My mother turned.
“Brielle.”
“Caught her doing what?” I asked.
My sister looked terrified.
“Taking money.”
Grant leaned forward.
“From Charles?”
Brielle nodded.
Years earlier, Grandpa had discovered Diane had been using access to his accounts to pay personal expenses.
Vacations.
Cars.
Brielle’s college debt.
More than $300,000.
He never pressed charges.
Instead, he removed Diane from every financial role and changed his estate plan.
That was why Clara’s trust bypassed my mother completely.
“But why my child?” I asked.
Henry answered.
“Your grandfather believed you were the only grandchild who never asked him for money.”
I laughed softly.
“I asked him for twenty dollars when I was twelve.”
Henry almost smiled.
“He apparently forgave that.”
Then his expression grew serious.
“There is something else.”
He removed a second envelope.
“This was only to be opened if someone attempted to challenge your fitness as Clara’s mother.”
Diane’s face lost all color.
Henry broke the seal.
Inside was a flash drive and one handwritten sentence:
IF DIANE COMES FOR THE CHILD, PLAY THE RECORDING.
My mother took one step toward the door.
Security blocked her.
May you like
Whatever was on that recording frightened her more than the police, the trust, or losing eleven million dollars.
And we were about to find out why.
