Chapter 4 - The Signature in Ava’s Nursery
Lena returned to Arden House with a court order the following afternoon.
Grant was absent.
Vivian had taken the relatives to lunch, leaving only two security guards and several members of staff.
When Lena arrived with Noah, Marcus and a county officer, the guards removed the chains.
Mrs. Ellis, the housekeeper who had served Celeste for twenty-four years, waited inside the entrance.
Her eyes filled with relief when she saw Lena carrying Ava.
“Thank goodness.”
Lena embraced her carefully.
“Why didn’t you call me?”
“They took our phones during the family meeting.”
“Who did?”
“Mrs. Vivian’s security men.”
Noah glanced toward the guards outside.
“Not the regular estate employees?”
Mrs. Ellis shook her head.
“They arrived the morning after you went into labor.”
Lena looked around the entrance hall.
Several paintings had been removed.
A display cabinet stood empty.
“What happened to my grandmother’s collection?”
“Mr. Grant said certain items were being appraised.”
“Which items?”
“The miniature portraits. The silver box from Vienna. The blue ledger.”
Noah reacted to the last object.
“What blue ledger?”
Mrs. Ellis lowered her voice.
“Mrs. Celeste kept it in the library safe.”
Lena had never heard of it.
“Did Grant open the safe?”
“He changed it.”
Lena handed Ava to Mrs. Ellis and hurried toward the library.
The safe was hidden behind a landscape painting.
Its original keypad had been replaced.
Noah photographed it.
“Do not touch anything until the forensic team arrives.”
Lena turned toward Grant’s office.
The room was locked, but the county officer authorized the locksmith to open it because Grant had no exclusive tenancy rights.
Inside, they found almost nothing.
The computer was gone.
The filing cabinets were empty.
A rectangular patch of dust showed where a printer had recently stood.
Noah examined the wastebasket.
“They cleaned this room.”
Lena moved to the nursery.
She had prepared it herself during the final months of pregnancy. Pale green walls, white furniture and a painted ceiling filled with small gold stars.
Ava’s crib stood beneath the window.
On the changing table, someone had left a stack of hospital documents.
Lena picked them up.
They were copies of forms she had signed before the delivery.
Her signature appeared on every page.
“Noah.”
He entered and immediately understood.
“This is the source.”
Lena searched the drawers.
In the bottom drawer, beneath folded blankets, she found a transparent sheet marked with practice lines.
Someone had traced her signature repeatedly.
Grant’s handwriting appeared in the notes beside it.
The final stroke needs to turn down.
Lena’s breath caught.
Noah photographed the page.
“This connects him to the forgery.”
“Why would he leave it here?”
“Perhaps he didn’t.”
Mrs. Ellis entered with Ava.
“Mrs. Vivian used this room while you were in the hospital.”
“For what?”
“She said she was preparing for the baby.”
Lena looked at the traced signatures.
A small light blinked above the crib.
The baby monitor.
She had installed a cloud camera so she could check the nursery from her phone.
Lena opened the application.
The recent recordings had been deleted.
All except one.
A clip from two nights earlier began playing.
Vivian stood beside the crib, holding the transparent sheet.
Grant paced near the window.
“I told you not to practice here,” he said.
“No one enters this room.”
“Lena will.”
“Not after the medical transfer is accepted.”
Grant stopped pacing.
“What did Rook say?”
“He needs the filing completed before the child’s trust becomes active.”
“We should never have created that company.”
“It was the only way to release the money.”
“The company uses Ava’s name.”
Vivian placed the sheet on the changing table.
“She will never know.”
Grant looked directly toward the crib camera.
For a moment, Lena thought he had noticed it.
Then he spoke quietly.
“If Lena sells the estate, the second agreement activates.”
Vivian’s confidence disappeared.
“She won’t sell.”
“What if she does?”
“Then Crown Meridian takes the house.”
“No,” Grant said. “Rook said they take something else.”
The recording ended.
Lena stared at the frozen image.
Noah replayed Grant’s final sentence.
“What else could they take?” Lena whispered.
Ava began crying.
May you like
Before anyone could answer, tires screeched outside.
Grant’s white sedan stopped in front of the mansion.
