Chapter 9 - The Trust
Claire spent the night reading every document.
The trust was older than Richard's marriage.
Older than his company.
It had been created before Claire met him.
And Mateo's name appeared throughout it.
The trust required three things.
Mateo had to remain alive.
Claire had to remain the legal guardian.
And a specific recording had to be presented before any transfer could occur.
The recording was missing.
Or so everyone believed.
Claire looked at the memory card.
She wondered whether the missing recording was inside it.
Maria arrived with Mateo.
The boy looked tired.
Claire knelt beside him.
“Do you remember your grandfather?”
Mateo nodded.
“What did he do?”
“He asked me questions.”
“About what?”
“Mom.”
Claire frowned.
“About me?”
“He wanted to know what you talked about.”
“Why?”
Mateo shrugged.
“He said you had something.”
Claire remembered the company.
Her father had left her a small technology business.
She had built it into a successful company.
But there was one encrypted server she had never been able to access.
Her father had told her to wait until Mateo turned eighteen.
She had forgotten about it.
Now she understood.
The server was probably connected to the trust.
She called her company's chief security officer.
He arrived within an hour.
The encrypted archive was located.
It contained a single file.
MATEO_18.
Claire opened it.
A video appeared.
Her father sat in front of the camera.
Claire immediately began crying.
“If you're watching this,” he said, “something went wrong.”
Claire covered her mouth.
Her father explained that he had discovered Richard's father's financial network years earlier.
He had created a protection mechanism.
The trust.
But he had not trusted anyone.
Not even Claire.
The video continued.
“Your son is not the beneficiary because I wanted him rich.”
Claire stared.
“He is the beneficiary because I needed someone outside their control.”
The screen went black.
Then another file appeared.
A voice recording.
Richard's father.
“Your father knew too much.”
Claire stopped breathing.
The recording continued.
“He tried to protect you.”
Then came another voice.
Richard.
“What do you want me to do?”
The older man answered.
“Marry her.”
Claire stood.
She couldn't hear anything else.
Richard had not married her by accident.
The relationship had been planned.
Her company.
Her inheritance.
Her son.
All of it.
A knock came at the door.
Everyone froze.
Then Evelyn entered.
She held a gun.
But she wasn't pointing it at Claire.
She pointed it toward the hallway.
“Don't move,” she whispered.
A man's voice came from outside.
“Evelyn.”
May you like
She closed her eyes.
“It's him.”
