Chapter 10 - the signature)
The transfer failed.
William Hale had built safeguards into Mia's trust.
Any withdrawal over fifty thousand dollars required two trustees or court approval.
Rebecca was the only active trustee.
Daniel had forged Adam's signature on a petition claiming both biological parents were incapacitated.
The document was crude legally.
But it revealed something important.
Daniel was still pursuing the money.
That meant he needed access to financial records.
And only three people knew the offline backup location.
Rebecca.
Adam.
And William Hale's former attorney, Charles Renner.
Police reached Renner's home at midnight.
The front door was open.
Renner was unconscious inside his study.
Alive.
His safe had been emptied.
Daniel had taken trust documents.
A passport.
Cash.
And an old sealed envelope William Hale had instructed Renner never to open unless Rebecca was in danger from "the Bennett family."
Rebecca stared when Renner told her.
"My father knew Daniel's family?"
Renner nodded from his hospital bed.
"Not Daniel personally. Patricia."
"Why didn't he tell me?"
"He believed the conflict ended decades ago."
"What was in the envelope?"
"I don't know."
Daniel now had it.
Rebecca felt trapped in a story written before she was born.
The following morning, a package arrived at the police station.
No return address.
Inside was the envelope.
Opened.
And a note from Daniel.
YOUR FATHER LIED TOO.
Rebecca read William's letter.
It described the Bennett company collapse.
Patricia's husband, Michael Bennett, had embezzled money from employees' retirement accounts.
William discovered it during acquisition due diligence.
Michael begged him to hide it.
William refused.
Michael was charged.
Six months later he died by suicide.
Patricia blamed William.
But the final paragraph changed everything.
Daniel had contacted William twelve years earlier.
He demanded money.
He threatened to "balance the debt."
William paid him one hundred thousand dollars to leave the family alone.
Daniel accepted.
Then demanded more.
William refused.
Daniel disappeared.
Until Rebecca met him.
Her father had recognized Daniel's surname after the wedding.
But Daniel used Carter.
His father's mother's maiden name.
William never connected him.
Not until three months before his death.
He hired an investigator.
The investigator discovered Daniel had changed names legally at twenty one.
William intended to tell Rebecca.
He died before he could.
Natural heart attack.
At least according to the original autopsy.
Rebecca looked at Wells.
"No."
Wells understood.
"You think Daniel killed your father."
"I think everything needs to be checked."
The body was exhumed.
Testing found no evidence of poisoning.
William's death really was natural.
For once, Daniel had not caused the tragedy.
That fact strangely steadied Rebecca.
Not every terrible thing belonged to him.
Not every coincidence was a plot.
She had to stop seeing Daniel everywhere.
Then the investigator William hired contacted police.
His name was Marcus Vale.
He had more.
William asked him to investigate Daniel's finances.
Daniel had massive gambling debts.
Nearly six hundred thousand dollars.
Patricia did not know.
The trust was not simply revenge.
Daniel was desperate.
His creditors were pressuring him.
He needed money quickly.
That was when the timeline accelerated.
The falls became more frequent.
The hospital incident happened.
Daniel began forging adoption documents.
And one week before the ER confrontation, he filed a secret petition alleging Rebecca suffered from untreated mental illness and posed a danger to Mia.
The petition had not yet been heard.
Attached were photographs of Mia's bruises.
Medical notes from false visits.
Statements from a supposed neighbor.
The neighbor did not exist.
And a signed declaration from Sophie.
Sophie stared at it.
"I never wrote this."
Her signature looked perfect.
Rebecca remembered Daniel asking Sophie to sign a birthday card months ago.
One signature was all he needed to copy.
Wells examined the declaration.
Then frowned.
"The notary is real."
They traced it.
The notary remembered Daniel.
And another person.
A woman who claimed to be Sophie.
Security footage existed.
They watched it.
The woman walked into the office wearing sunglasses.
She removed them to sign.
Rebecca gasped.
May you like
Not Patricia.
Claire.
