Chapter 6 - THE SECRET INSIDE THE WILL
The revised will continued to trouble Miriam.
If Lucas and Evelyn had planned the fraud together, there was no reason for Lucas to keep a handwritten draft showing Evelyn’s name replacing Margot’s.
Unless Evelyn had never seen it.
Margot returned to the study the following night while Lucas showered.
She opened the metal box and examined the will again.
This time, she noticed that the paper was older than the other documents.
The date had been typed three years earlier.
Beneath Evelyn’s name was an indentation in the page.
Another name had once been written there and erased.
Margot photographed it using light from the side.
Daniel enhanced the image.
The erased letters became visible.
Nora Sloan.
Margot had never heard the name.
Daniel searched public records.
Nora Sloan was a forty-three-year-old widow who owned a regional textbook distributor. Her company had entered negotiations with Vale Publishing six months earlier.
Lucas had personally managed the discussions.
Miriam looked at the evidence in silence.
“He’s done this before,” Margot said.
“Or planned to.”
They discovered that Nora had withdrawn from the acquisition after Lucas encouraged her to place several assets into a joint investment structure.
When Nora refused, the negotiations collapsed.
Lucas had then turned his attention back to Margot’s trust.
Evelyn’s name on the will was not a declaration of love.
It was another stage in a repeating strategy.
Lucas approached women with access to valuable businesses. He became indispensable. He persuaded them to grant him authority. When one plan failed, he revised the paperwork and replaced the name.
Margot had been the most profitable target because Evelyn had introduced them and vouched for him.
Miriam contacted Nora.
The next afternoon, Nora joined them by video call.
Her voice remained steady, but her face tightened when Margot showed her Lucas’s photograph.
“He called himself Luke Vance when we met,” Nora said.
“Did he discuss marriage?”
“Not directly. He said his marriage was ending and that he wanted to build a future with me.”
Margot felt no jealousy.
Only clarity.
“Did Evelyn know?”
“I met her twice. Lucas introduced her as his attorney.”
Nora described a set of investment documents similar to the papers Lucas planned to make Margot sign.
She had become suspicious when her accountant found unusual clauses transferring emergency authority to Lucas.
“When I questioned him, he disappeared,” Nora said. “A month later, someone broke into my office and took only the original documents.”
“Did you report it?”
“Yes, but nothing was recovered.”
Margot looked at the metal box beside Miriam.
Lucas had kept copies because he never truly discarded a useful plan.
After the call ended, Margot sat quietly.
Miriam waited.
“He didn’t marry me because he loved Evelyn,” Margot finally said.
“No.”
“He didn’t betray me for someone else.”
“No.”
“He chose me because of the company.”
Miriam reached across the table.
“Lucas chose you because he believed your trust could be exploited. That does not mean the person he saw was the only person you are.”
Margot looked at her.
“What does that mean?”
“He saw a signature. He never bothered to see the woman holding the pen.”
For the first time since 2:03 that morning, Margot felt something stronger than fear.
She felt anger.
Not wild anger.
Not the kind that destroyed judgment.
It was cold, focused, and patient.
“Does Evelyn know about Nora?” she asked.
“Probably not.”
Margot looked toward Detective Foster.
May you like
“Then I think it’s time she learned what her name really means to Lucas.”
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