Chapter 11 - The First Woman Through the Door
The first client arrived ten minutes before the legal center officially opened.
Her name was Mara Ellison.
She was forty-three, dressed in a gray office suit that appeared expensive from a distance and exhausted up close. She carried no handbag. Only a thick envelope pressed tightly against her chest.
Leah invited her into the restored breakfast room.
Mara remained standing.
“I was told this place helps people who signed things they did not understand.”
“We help people understand what was done to them,” Leah replied.
Mara placed the envelope on the table.
Inside was an employment agreement, a confidentiality contract, and a personal guarantee for twelve million dollars.
All three carried Mara’s signature.
“I never signed the guarantee,” she said.
Leah turned to the final page.
The witness was Victor Sloane.
Ryan’s former family attorney.
The same lawyer who had prepared the forged marriage agreement.
Leah looked up slowly.
“Where did you work?”
“Sloane Advisory.”
Chloe, who had been reviewing intake forms near the window, stopped writing.
Mara glanced toward her.
“I was Mr. Sloane’s executive assistant for eleven years. I prepared documents for the Hartwell family.”
“Did you prepare Ryan’s second marriage agreement?” Chloe asked.
Mara’s face lost its remaining color.
“I printed it.”
The room became silent.
Mara reached into the envelope and removed a small brass key.
“Three days before Ryan’s arrest, Mr. Sloane ordered me to empty a storage office. I refused. He had me dismissed and placed the company’s debts in my name.”
“What is the key for?” Leah asked.
“A deposit box registered under a company that officially does not exist.”
Mara pushed it across the table.
“Mr. Sloane thinks Ryan took every secret to prison.”
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She looked directly at Leah.
“He was wrong.”
