Chapter 7 - The Night Caroline DiedEdward did not react at first.
Edward’s attorney, Rebecca Shaw, arrived before sunrise.
A forensic accountant followed.
Then an independent cybersecurity consultant.
Nobody used the main study.
Edward insisted they work in the old library because Daniel had once maintained an office beside the study, and Edward no longer trusted the house’s network.
Claire sat with Emma and Lily at breakfast.
Edward joined them.
That surprised everyone.
He was wearing jeans.
Emma stared.
“Are you sick?”
Edward looked down at himself.
“No.”
“You’re not wearing a suit.”
“I own other clothes.”
Lily whispered to Claire, “I’ve never seen them.”
Edward heard.
“So I’m learning.”
He made pancakes.
Badly.
The first one folded itself into something resembling a torn envelope.
Emma laughed so hard milk came through her nose.
Edward stared at her.
Then laughed too.
Claire watched them carefully.
It would have been easy to mistake this for healing.
It wasn’t.
Healing was slower.
But this was a beginning.
After breakfast, Rebecca asked Claire to join the adults in the library.
Edward remained with the girls for another twenty minutes before following.
Rebecca had already covered a long table with documents.
“The trust amendment is forged,” she said.
Edward stood over the papers.
“You confirmed that quickly.”
“Your signature is inconsistent with fourteen verified samples from the same year. More importantly, the witness signature belongs to a notary who died six months before the document was supposedly executed.”
Claire blinked.
“That seems obvious.”
“It would have been,” Rebecca said, “if anyone had ever reviewed it.”
Edward’s face hardened.
“Why didn’t you?”
“I didn’t represent you then.”
“Who did?”
“Harold Wexler.”
“My father’s attorney.”
“Yes.”
“The dead man Marcus told me to ask.”
Rebecca nodded.
The forensic accountant slid forward another file.
“Daniel began drawing against trust-owned collateral approximately four months before Caroline died.”
“How much?” Edward asked.
“Initially? Two million.”
Edward’s jaw tightened.
“Currently?”
The accountant hesitated.
“Potential exposure is thirty-eight million.”
Claire inhaled.
Edward remained unnaturally still.
“How?”
“Complex borrowing. Guarantees. Private investment vehicles. Several failed ventures were hidden behind holding companies.”
“All signed by me?”
“Some.”
“Forged?”
“Probably.”
“Others?”
The accountant looked uncomfortable.
“Legitimate.”
Edward frowned.
“I never approved loans against my daughters’ trust.”
“No. But you did give Daniel broad financial authority over several family entities when you became CEO.”
Edward’s face changed.
There it was.
His own mistake.
Not criminal.
But careless.
He had been too busy expanding the empire to notice what was happening beneath it.
Rebecca tapped another document.
“Caroline noticed because she was designated co-trustee for the girls.”
Edward closed his eyes.
“She tried to tell me.”
“Yes.”
“And I accused her of being unstable.”
No one answered.
Claire finally said, “You didn’t know what she was trying to tell you.”
Edward looked at her.
“I made sure she couldn’t tell me.”
The silence was heavy.
Rebecca changed the subject.
“There’s more.”
She turned her laptop around.
“Somebody inside the house accessed Edward’s private calendar and sent meeting schedules to an outside email address.”
Claire leaned closer.
“Can you identify who?”
“We traced the login to the staff office.”
Edward’s expression sharpened.
“Who has access?”
“Mrs. Alvarez. The household administrator. Security supervisor. Your personal assistant. And Claire.”
Every eye went to her.
Claire felt a flash of anger.
“I don’t even know the password.”
Rebecca raised a hand.
“I’m not accusing you.”
Edward spoke instantly.
“She didn’t do it.”
Claire looked at him.
The certainty in his voice mattered more than she wanted it to.
Rebecca continued.
“The login occurred at 11:47 p.m. three nights ago.”
Claire remembered.
“I was with Lily.”
Edward nodded.
“She had a fever.”
Rebecca made a note.
“Mrs. Alvarez?”
“Home.”
“Security supervisor?”
Edward’s mouth tightened.
“Martin.”
Claire remembered Martin Keene.
Head of estate security.
Former police officer.
Quiet.
Efficient.
He was also the man who had reported the service-gate footage.
“Would he expose Marcus if he were helping Daniel?” Claire asked.
Rebecca nodded.
“Good question.”
Edward said, “Unless Marcus entering through the window wasn’t part of the plan.”
Everyone looked at him.
“Maybe Martin expected Marcus to use a staff entrance,” Edward continued. “Marcus panicked when he found security altered.”
Claire frowned.
“Who changed security?”
“I did, after Daniel arrived.”
“So Martin might have been forced to report footage to avoid suspicion.”
Rebecca closed the laptop.
“I’ll have investigators check his finances.”
Edward nodded.
He started toward the door.
Claire followed.
In the hallway she caught his arm.
“Don’t confront him.”
“I wasn’t going to.”
“Yes, you were.”
Edward gave her an irritated look.
“You’ve known me eleven months.”
“That’s becoming plenty.”
He almost smiled.
Then they heard Emma laughing in the garden.
Edward looked toward the sound.
Claire saw something settle inside him.
“You were right,” he said.
“About what?”
“They thought I didn’t love them.”
Claire said nothing.
“I thought paying for everything was loving them.”
“It’s one form.”
“I bought Emma a pony.”
“She wanted you to watch her school play.”
“I sent flowers.”
“She wanted you.”
Edward absorbed this.
“I missed it.”
“Yes.”
“Caroline warned me.”
“Yes.”
He looked at Claire.
“You don’t soften anything, do you?”
“Not when children are involved.”
“I noticed.”
His phone buzzed.
Rebecca.
He answered.
“What?”
A pause.
His face hardened.
“Bring him in.”
Claire felt her stomach tighten.
“Who?”
Edward ended the call.
“Martin.”
Minutes later, the security supervisor entered the library.
He looked confused rather than frightened.
“Sir?”
Edward motioned to a chair.
“Sit.”
Martin remained standing.
“What’s going on?”
Rebecca placed bank statements on the table.
“Your checking account received six deposits totaling ninety thousand dollars over the last fourteen months.”
Martin’s face changed.
Edward’s voice was cold.
“Who paid you?”
Martin looked at the door.
Two private security officers stood outside.
He swallowed.
“I didn’t know what Daniel was doing.”
Edward stepped closer.
“Who paid you?”
Martin looked down.
“Mr. Daniel.”
Claire closed her eyes briefly.
“What information did you give him?” Rebecca asked.
“Schedules.”
“What else?”
“Staff changes.”
“What else?”
Martin hesitated.
Edward slammed both palms on the table.
“My daughters live in this house.”
Martin flinched.
“I never gave him anything about them.”
“You told him Claire was fired.”
“Yes.”
“You told him about the letter.”
“No.”
Everyone went still.
Edward stared.
“Then who did?”
“I don’t know.”
“Don’t lie.”
“I’m not.”
Martin looked genuinely frightened.
“I told Daniel you fired Claire because I thought that was all he wanted. When he called asking about a letter, I didn’t know what he meant.”
Claire felt cold.
That meant there were two leaks.
Rebecca asked, “Who else knew Emma had the letter?”
Claire started counting.
Edward.
Claire.
Mrs. Alvarez.
Possibly Lily.
Then she remembered something.
“Your assistant.”
Edward turned.
“What?”
“When Emma came down the stairs yesterday, your assistant was standing near the portico before Daniel arrived.”
Edward frowned.
“My assistant left for headquarters.”
“When?”
He checked his memory.
“Eight thirty.”
“Emma showed us the letter after nine.”
Claire shook her head.
“No. I’m talking about before that. When Emma first ran after me in the driveway and said I found Mommy’s letter.”
Edward’s face changed.
His personal assistant, Jonathan Price, had been close enough to hear everything.
Rebecca immediately opened her laptop.
“Where is Jonathan?”
Edward called.
No answer.
Again.
Nothing.
Rebecca’s computer chimed.
She stared at the screen.
“What?”
She turned it around.
Jonathan Price had used his company credentials twelve minutes earlier.
From Los Angeles International Airport.
Edward whispered, “He’s leaving.”
Rebecca nodded.
“For Zurich.”
Edward grabbed his jacket.
Claire stepped in front of him.
“Where are you going?”
“To stop him.”
“You are not airport security.”
“He knows everything.”
“Then call the authorities.”
Edward looked furious.
But this time, he listened.
Rebecca made the call.
Jonathan never boarded the flight.
Federal agents detained him near the international terminal after discovering encrypted files connected to offshore financial transfers.
Two hours later, Rebecca received another call.
Her expression turned grim.
“What now?” Edward asked.
She lowered the phone.
“Jonathan wants immunity.”
“For what?”
“He says Daniel didn’t just forge trust documents.”
Edward stared.
Rebecca continued.
May you like
“He says Daniel sabotaged Caroline’s car.”
And the room went completely silent.
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