Chapter 7 - The Mistress's Evidence
Vanessa was waiting in the executive conference room when I arrived.
She had changed out of the red gown.
Now she wore a cream-colored suit, her hair pulled back, and a calm expression that looked carefully rehearsed.
A leather portfolio sat in front of her.
"Claire," she said. "I'm glad you came."
"I wouldn't miss this."
Nathan sat beside me.
Two independent directors occupied the opposite side of the table.
Vanessa opened the portfolio.
"Before this becomes any uglier, I want everyone to understand that I never intended to hurt Hawthorne."
I looked at her.
"You accepted money from a company with no employees."
"That money paid for legitimate strategic services."
"Services nobody can document?"
She ignored the question.
Instead, she removed a notarized document.
"This is the original trust amendment signed by Eleanor Whitmore."
Nathan leaned forward.
"Where did you obtain that?"
"From the trust administrator."
"Richard Voss?"
Vanessa smiled.
"Yes."
The document stated that Eleanor had transferred control of her investment trust to an independent administrator before her death.
If valid, the amendment could undermine part of my inheritance claim.
I studied the signature.
It looked like Eleanor's.
Almost perfect.
But something bothered me.
"May I see it?"
Vanessa slid the paper across the table.
I examined the final page.
Then I noticed the date.
It was dated November 18.
My grandmother had been hospitalized on November 12.
She had died on November 14.
I looked up.
"Why is this dated four days after her death?"
Vanessa's smile disappeared.
One of the directors took the document.
Nathan leaned back.
"That appears to be a serious problem."
Vanessa's face flushed.
"That's a clerical error."
"Then perhaps the original notary can explain it."
She closed the portfolio.
"Richard handled the paperwork."
"Of course he did."
Vanessa looked at me.
"You think you're smarter than everyone because you inherited some money."
"No. I think you underestimated the woman whose money it was."
Her eyes hardened.
"You have no idea what Eleanor did."
"Then tell me."
Vanessa hesitated.
For the first time, her confidence cracked.
"Your grandmother promised Richard that he would inherit a controlling interest in the trust."
"She couldn't promise something she didn't own outright."
"She owed him."
"For what?"
Vanessa leaned forward.
"Because he knew the truth about your parents."
The room went silent.
My parents had died in a car accident when I was sixteen.
My grandmother had raised me afterward.
"What truth?"
Vanessa glanced at Nathan.
Then she said, "Your father wasn't supposed to die that night."
My chest tightened.
"What are you talking about?"
"Richard believed your grandmother had concealed money that belonged to your father's family. Your father confronted her. There was an argument. A week later, he was dead."
Nathan immediately interrupted.
"That's an unsubstantiated allegation."
Vanessa smiled.
"Then let's discuss the recording."
She connected a small device to the conference room screen.
An audio file appeared.
The date was November 13, thirteen years earlier.
A woman's voice filled the room.
My grandmother.
"If anything happens to me, Claire must never be given the documents until she understands what her father did."
I covered my mouth.
Another voice answered.
Richard.
"And what if she asks?"
"Then tell her the truth."
"What truth, Eleanor?"
A pause.
Then my grandmother whispered:
"That Daniel's father was involved."
The recording ended.
I couldn't breathe.
Daniel's father?
Edward Hawthorne?
What did he have to do with my parents' accident?
Vanessa disconnected the device.
"Now you understand why Daniel needed me."
I looked at her.
"No. I understand why you needed him."
Her smile returned.
"There's one more thing."
She removed a final sheet of paper.
It was a share-transfer agreement.
It carried my signature.
My name.
My address.
My identity.
And a date from six months earlier.
According to the document, I had transferred my forty-eight percent voting interest into Hawthorne Legacy Holdings.
I stared at it.
I had never signed that agreement.
But the signature looked exactly like mine.
Vanessa folded her hands.
"By tomorrow morning, Richard will own the controlling interest in Hawthorne."
Nathan immediately stood.
"That's impossible. The document hasn't been authenticated."
Vanessa smiled.
"Then I suppose we should ask the person who witnessed it."
The conference room door opened.
An elderly man stepped inside.
I recognized him immediately from my grandmother's photograph.
Richard Voss.
He looked at me with a strange mixture of regret and satisfaction.
"Hello, Claire."
Then he placed a small velvet box on the table.
Inside was another emerald ring.
Identical to mine.
Except this one carried a different engraving.
E.H.
Richard looked directly into my eyes.
"Your grandmother left you one inheritance, Claire."
May you like
He paused.
"But your mother left you another."
