Chapter 8 - The Trap Built Around Dylan)
Gwen called Dylan into the library at seven that morning.
He looked ten years older.
“What now?”
“Sit.”
He did.
Howard stood near the window.
Gwen placed three documents on the table.
The occupancy agreement.
The financing package.
The draft trust structure.
Dylan stared.
“What is that?”
“The reason this happened.”
Gwen explained the alternate control provisions.
As she spoke, Dylan’s face changed.
Confusion.
Disbelief.
Then horror.
“You think Maren wanted me disqualified?”
“I think somebody wanted you financially compromised.”
“Why?”
“So someone else could argue they should control Ethan’s interests.”
Dylan stood.
“That’s insane.”
“Is it?”
“Yes.”
“Maren paid Victor half a million dollars for confidential information.”
“We don’t know that was why.”
“She had access to the trust drafts.”
“You’re guessing.”
Howard spoke.
“We confirmed Victor downloaded them.”
Dylan looked at him.
Howard continued.
“We also know someone encouraged you to violate an agreement they had already reviewed.”
Dylan froze.
“What?”
Gwen pushed the occupancy letter toward him.
“When did Maren first tell you the agreement wouldn’t matter?”
Dylan’s eyes moved down.
He remembered.
“Last summer.”
“What did she say?”
“That no court would throw a family out over paperwork.”
“Anything else?”
Dylan swallowed.
“She said because I was your only child, equitable ownership would eventually be recognized.”
Howard shook his head.
“That is nonsense.”
“I know that now.”
“Who told her?”
Dylan looked toward Gwen.
“Victor.”
Silence.
Gwen asked, “Did Maren tell you that?”
“Yes.”
There it was.
Maren had known the occupancy agreement was real.
She had known it prohibited financing.
She had known breach could terminate Dylan’s rights.
And she deliberately convinced him otherwise.
Dylan sat down.
“Why would she do this?”
Gwen answered softly.
“Because you were easier to destroy than I was.”
His eyes filled.
The words hurt.
But they were true.
“Pamela?”
“I don’t know yet.”
“She couldn’t know.”
“You’re sure?”
He looked away.
Gwen leaned forward.
“Dylan.”
“She complained about you.”
“That isn’t what I asked.”
“She wanted the house transferred.”
“Did she know about the trust?”
“No.”
“You’re sure?”
“I think so.”
Howard asked, “Did Pamela encourage the loan?”
Dylan hesitated.
“Yes.”
Gwen’s face hardened.
“But she didn’t know the mansion was collateral?”
“She knew we were using the property’s value to strengthen the application.”
“That means what?”
“She thought I had a future ownership interest.”
Howard sighed.
“That phrase means nothing.”
“I know.”
Dylan covered his face.
“I was trying to fix everything.”
Gwen watched him.
“By lying to everyone.”
He looked at her.
“I thought if I could make one good deal, I could erase all the bad ones.”
“That sentence has bankrupted more people than recessions.”
Dylan almost smiled.
Then didn’t.
His phone buzzed.
Pamela.
He answered.
Her voice was loud enough for Gwen to hear.
“Dylan, Mom’s gone.”
He frowned.
“What?”
“She didn’t go home.”
“Where are you?”
“My sister’s.”
“Where’s Maren?”
“I don’t know.”
“When did you last see her?”
“Last night.”
Dylan looked at Gwen.
Pamela continued.
“There’s something else.”
“What?”
“I went through Mom’s office.”
Dylan stood.
“Why?”
“Because I wanted to know what she knew about the trust.”
Gwen moved closer.
“What did you find?” Dylan asked.
Pamela’s voice shook.
“A folder with Ethan’s name.”
Gwen’s stomach tightened.
“What kind of folder?”
“I don’t know. Legal documents. Guardianship research. Trust petitions.”
Howard held out his hand for the phone.
Dylan switched to speaker.
Howard said, “Pamela, do not remove anything.”
“I already did.”
“What?”
“I took the folder.”
“Where is it?”
“With me.”
“Bring it directly to Gwen’s office.”
Pamela hesitated.
“There’s something else.”
Gwen spoke.
“What?”
Pamela went quiet.
Then whispered, “There are photographs.”
“What photographs?”
“You.”
Gwen frowned.
“Of me doing what?”
“Leaving your doctor.”
The room froze.
Gwen had undergone routine cardiac testing four months earlier.
Almost nobody knew.
Pamela continued.
“There are medical notes.”
Gwen stared at Howard.
Her private medical information had no connection to the mansion.
No connection to Dylan’s debt.
Unless someone wanted to argue Gwen herself was unfit to manage the trust.
Dylan’s voice broke.
“They were trying to remove both of us.”
Howard looked at Gwen.
Not just Dylan.
Gwen.
The entire family structure was being attacked from two directions.
And if both Gwen and Dylan were judged incapable, compromised, or unavailable, the trust’s emergency management provision could be activated.
Pamela whispered over the phone.
“Gwen?”
“Yes.”
“There’s a handwritten note in the folder.”
“Read it.”
Pamela hesitated.
“Phase one complete. Son isolated.”
Dylan went pale.
“What does the next line say?” Gwen asked.
May you like
Pamela’s breathing became audible.
“Phase two begins after the birthday.”
