Chapter 8 - The Shower Agreement
Two days before the baby shower, Richard sent Claire a contract.
The email subject read Family Resolution.
The agreement was six pages long. It described the $18,000 as a voluntary contribution toward shared prenatal expenses, family security, event planning, and reputation management.
In exchange for signing, Claire would receive immediate control of the remaining funds from her grandmother’s trust.
The document claimed that amount was $480,000.
Claire read the number three times.
Her maternity account had contained only $125,000.
She called Norman.
“Do not sign,” he said.
“I was not planning to.”
“Forward it to me.”
“What if the $480,000 is real?”
“Then your parents have been hiding a much larger account.”
Ethan read the agreement beside her.
Clause fourteen required Claire to release Richard, Marlene, Beth, the Ward Foundation, and all associated entities from liability for past financial decisions.
Clause fifteen prohibited her from speaking to law enforcement.
Clause sixteen transferred decision-making authority over her unborn child’s inheritance to the Ward Foundation if Claire became medically incapacitated.
Ethan’s face turned cold.
“They expected you not to read this.”
“They expected me to see $480,000 and sign.”
Beth arrived an hour later with her hospital records.
The nurse’s notes showed that Richard and Marlene visited while Beth was receiving a sedative. The records also mentioned a four-page document, not a nine-page agreement.
Norman believed it was enough to challenge the validity of Beth’s signature, but not enough to prove who had added the missing pages.
Beth sat at Claire’s kitchen table.
“Grant knows something is wrong.”
“What did you tell him?” Claire asked.
“That Dad used my signature on a financial document.”
“And?”
“He asked how much money was involved.”
“Did you tell him?”
“No.”
Claire watched her sister.
“Why not?”
“Because Grant is on the foundation’s investment committee.”
Ethan looked up.
“Since when?”
“Eight months.”
Claire felt another piece click into place.
“Did he approve payments to North Vale?”
“I do not know.”
“You need to ask him.”
Beth shook her head.
“I need to know whose side he is on first.”
That evening, Beth returned home and searched Grant’s office while he showered.
Inside a locked drawer, she found printed emails between Grant and Richard.
The messages discussed a temporary transfer of legacy assets, a compliance risk, and the need to secure Beth’s cooperation before Claire learned the true balance.
One email contained a sentence that made Beth sit on the floor.
Beth will sign. She always does when she thinks Claire will receive more.
The message was written by Grant.
Beth photographed every page.
Then she found a reservation confirmation for a one-way flight departing the night after the shower.
Passenger: Grant Mercer.
Destination: Zurich.
Beth called Claire from the garage.
“He is leaving.”
“Who?”
“Grant. The night after the shower.”
“Does he know you found the ticket?”
“No.”
“Come here.”
“I cannot. He will notice.”
“Beth, you are not safe.”
“I am safer if he thinks I know nothing.”
A door closed inside Beth’s house.
She lowered her voice.
“I found emails. Grant knew about the account.”
“Send them.”
“I will.”
Footsteps approached the garage.
Beth ended the call.
Claire waited for the photographs.
Nothing arrived.
Ten minutes later, Grant called from Beth’s phone.
“Claire,” he said pleasantly. “Beth is tired. I think everyone needs to stop upsetting her before the shower.”
“Put her on the phone.”
“She is sleeping.”
“I spoke to her ten minutes ago.”
Grant’s voice remained calm.
“You should focus on your own pregnancy.”
The call ended.
Claire immediately contacted Norman.
By the time officers reached Beth’s house, Grant was gone.
Beth was sitting alone in the living room.
Her phone had been wiped.
The emails were gone.
But Grant had missed one thing.
Beth had sent a single photograph to Claire before he entered the garage.
It showed a bank account in Switzerland.
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The account holder was North Vale Consulting.
The authorized signers were Richard Ward, Grant Mercer, and someone whose name had been covered with black ink.
