Chapter 3
I called Angela again before I could talk myself into believing there was an innocent explanation.
"Someone forged my signature."
My voice sounded distant.
Angela became silent.
Then she asked, "On what?"
"A financing agreement."
"How much?"
"Forty-eight million dollars."
She inhaled sharply.
"Simone, do not alter those documents."
I looked at the page.
My name appeared beneath a paragraph that supposedly authorized Bennett Capital to pledge shares in Whitmore Holdings.
The signature looked almost perfect.
The curve of the S.
The small upward stroke at the end of my surname.
Even the way I crossed my final letter.
But I knew I hadn't signed it.
"Angela, how could they do this?"
"We need the originals and the transaction records before drawing conclusions."
"I never authorized it."
"I believe you."
Those three words nearly made me cry.
For months, Marcus had told me that questioning him meant I didn't trust him.
Now someone finally understood that my doubts had been reasonable.
Angela arrived forty minutes later.
She wore a navy suit and carried a leather briefcase.
She had represented my grandmother for sixteen years.
After Grandma died, Angela became more than my attorney.
She became one of the few people I trusted completely.
She read the transfer documents without speaking.
Her expression grew harder with every page.
Finally, she looked up.
"Simone, when did Marcus first ask about your ownership structure?"
I thought carefully.
"About three months after we started dating."
"And what did you tell him?"
"That Grandma had placed most of the company shares in a trust."
Angela nodded.
"Did he ask who controlled the trust?"
"Eventually."
"What did you say?"
"That I was a beneficiary and managing executive, but major transactions required additional trustee approval."
She looked down.
"Then he knew he couldn't simply acquire control through marriage."
My stomach tightened.
"Unless he convinced me to sign."
"Exactly."
I sat back.
The room felt unfamiliar.
This was the breakfast room where Grandma had taught me how to negotiate contracts.
She used to set two cups of tea between us and pretend we were competing developers.
"Never let someone's urgency become your emergency," she would say.
I wished she were sitting across from me now.
Angela examined the financing schedule.
"This is very serious."
"Is the company already in danger?"
"We need to confirm whether any security interest was actually perfected and what representations were made to the lender."
I rubbed my forehead.
"What does that mean?"
"It means the paper alone doesn't prove they obtained rights over your company. But someone may have made fraudulent claims to secure financing."
I looked toward the window.
"Can we stop them?"
"We can notify the trustees, preserve records, and challenge unauthorized documents."
She opened her laptop.
"First, I need to contact Margaret Ellis."
Margaret was the independent co-trustee Grandma had appointed.
She had worked with the company for thirty years.
Angela called her.
When Margaret heard what happened, she became furious.
"That agreement was never submitted for trustee approval."
Angela nodded.
"That's what I suspected."
Margaret continued.
"Eleanor anticipated exactly this kind of pressure."
I leaned toward the phone.
"What do you mean?"
Margaret hesitated.
"Simone, your grandmother left instructions concerning a possible attempt to acquire the company through your marriage."
My heart stopped.
"She knew about Marcus?"
"Not necessarily about Marcus specifically."
Margaret took a breath.
"But she was concerned about anyone who might use your personal relationships to gain control."
I closed my eyes.
Grandma had always been cautious.
But she had never interfered with my dating life.
When I introduced Marcus, she was polite.
She smiled.
She asked about his family.
Yet afterward, she called me into her study.
"He's charming," she said.
I laughed.
"Is that bad?"
"Charm is a gift. Character is a choice."
I remembered rolling my eyes.
"Grandma, please."
She touched my hand.
"Just promise me something."
"What?"
"Never sign away your independence to prove your love."
At the time, I thought she was being dramatic.
Now I understood.
Angela ended the call.
"Margaret is coming."
I nodded.
"Good."
Then something occurred to me.
"Where is Marcus?"
Angela looked up.
"I assumed he'd left."
"He did. But he still has keys."
Her expression changed.
"Simone, is anyone else in the house?"
"Just the staff."
"Ask security to verify whether any company records have been accessed."
I called our head of household security, Daniel Foster.
He checked the entrance logs.
Then he contacted the office wing.
Five minutes later, my phone rang.
"Ms. Whitmore?"
I froze.
Daniel only used my maiden name when something was wrong.
"Yes?"
"Someone entered your grandmother's study at 6:14 this morning."
My stomach dropped.
"Who?"
"Mr. Bennett."
I looked at Angela.
"What was he doing?"
Daniel hesitated.
"He used the access code registered to your account."
I felt sick.
Marcus knew my old security code.
I had given it to him after our engagement.
I thought sharing it demonstrated trust.
"Was anything removed?"
"We're checking."
Angela stood.
"Have Daniel preserve the logs."
I nodded.
Then I walked toward Grandma's study.
The room smelled faintly of cedarwood.
Her old desk stood beneath the window.
The family photographs remained on the shelves.
But something was wrong.
One cabinet door was slightly open.
I approached it.
Inside were binders containing historical company records.
One space was empty.
I knew exactly what belonged there.
Grandma's private correspondence file.
The one containing handwritten notes about major business decisions.
I stared at the empty shelf.
"Angela."
She came beside me.
"What?"
"The correspondence binder is gone."
Her expression tightened.
"Who had access?"
"Grandma. Me. Margaret."
"And Marcus."
I nodded.
My stomach twisted.
He hadn't simply arrived at breakfast with a document.
He had entered my grandmother's study before dawn.
He had searched through private records.
And now something important was missing.
Angela called Daniel immediately.
"Preserve all relevant camera footage. Nobody is to delete anything."
Then she turned toward me.
"We need to review the recordings."
In the security office, Daniel opened the video from 6:14.
Marcus appeared in the hallway wearing his tuxedo jacket.
He looked around.
Then he entered Grandma's study.
Fourteen minutes later, he emerged carrying a brown leather binder.
I covered my mouth.
"He took it."
Angela leaned closer.
But then the recording showed something unexpected.
Marcus stopped near the staircase.
He took out his phone.
After a brief call, another person entered the hallway.
A woman.
Tall.
Elegant.
Wearing a pale lavender dress from yesterday's wedding.
My stomach dropped.
"Evelyn."
Marcus's mother.
She accepted the binder.
Then she walked toward the service exit.
I stared at the screen.
They had worked together.
The betrayal wasn't limited to my husband.
His entire family had been involved.
Daniel paused the video.
"Ms. Whitmore, there's another recording."
I looked at him.
"What?"
"The service entrance camera."
He opened it.
Evelyn walked outside carrying the binder.
A black car waited beside the gate.
Richard sat in the passenger seat.
But the driver wasn't someone I recognized.
Daniel enlarged the image.
Angela leaned toward the monitor.
Then her face changed.
"Oh, Simone."
I looked at her.
"What?"
She pointed toward the driver.
"I know that man."
My heart pounded.
"Who is he?"
Angela swallowed.
"His name is Victor Hale."
I waited.
"He was your grandmother's chief financial officer before she fired him."
I stared at the screen.
Grandma had dismissed Victor five years earlier after discovering suspicious accounting entries.
She had refused to discuss the details.
Now he was sitting in a car outside my house.
Receiving private company records from my husband's family.
Angela's voice became quiet.
"Simone, this isn't just a marriage scam."
I looked at her.
She continued.
May you like
"Someone has been planning a takeover of Whitmore Holdings for years."
And suddenly, I understood why Grandma had created such an unusual trust.
