Chapter 3 - The Paper Trail
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It took me less than three weeks of quiet digging to uncover the massive fraud. I didn't need a search warrant; they were arrogant enough to leave a trail of breadcrumbs right in their own home. I found the truth hidden behind a labyrinthine chain of trusts and supposed medical charity donations.
There were unauthorized transfers bleeding the family business dry. There were forged advisory fees paid out to phantom consultants. But the discovery that made the blood freeze in my veins was a life insurance policy.
It was a policy taken out on me, worth exactly seven million dollars.
I sat in the study late one night, the glow of my laptop illuminating the horrifying document. I stared at the signature line. It was my name, signed in my handwriting, but I had never seen this document in my life. It was a spectacular forgery, a version of my signature that looked entirely convincing unless you were a forensic accountant who had spent years studying fraudulent handwriting. They had traced it, likely from our joint tax returns.
I knew I was in danger, but I made a fatal miscalculation. I didn't run immediately. I was too entrenched in my process. I wanted to build an airtight case. I wanted one more copy of the bank file, one more unassailable confirmation from Jonah Mercer, the private investigator I had quietly hired to trace the offshore accounts.
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I planned to confront Adrian when I had every piece of paper in hand. I wanted to look him in the eye and see if he had actually signed off on my death, or if his mother had orchestrated the entire thing without his knowledge. That hesitation was my greatest mistake. I thought like an auditor, not a victim. I assumed I had time.
I didn't realize that Cordelia had noticed me snooping. I didn't realize that in her mind, the audit was already over, and I had been marked as a liability that needed to be permanently liquidated.
