Chapter 10 - What Faye Stole Seven Years EarlierFaye met Marshall in Elise's office.
No Grant.
No children.
Two attorneys.
One recorder.
Marshall had insisted.
Faye looked smaller than she had in the kitchen.
Not physically.
The certainty was gone.
“What happened to Mom's money?” Marshall asked.
Faye stared at the table.
“I was in debt.”
“How?”
“My salon failed.”
“I paid the business loan.”
“Not all of it.”
“What else?”
“Credit cards.”
“How much?”
“Eighty thousand.”
Marshall closed his eyes.
“And the rest?”
“A man I was seeing.”
He stared.
“You gave him Mom's money?”
“I invested with him.”
“Did you get it back?”
“No.”
“How did Grant know?”
“He handled probate.”
Of course.
Faye had been executor for several months before Marshall discovered bookkeeping issues and hired Grant to complete the estate.
Grant found a transfer.
Instead of reporting it or forcing correction, he buried it.
Then reminded Faye whenever he needed something.
“When did he first ask you about Willow Crest?”
“After Lillian died.”
“What did he say?”
“That you weren't functioning.”
Marshall felt anger.
Faye continued.
“He said Holloway still wanted the property. He said if you waited, you'd lose the best offer.”
“He knew the land was worth more.”
“I didn't.”
“Lillian told you.”
“She said Grant was hiding something. I thought she was paranoid.”
“Why?”
“Because I didn't like her.”
At least that was honest.
“What did Grant ask you to do?”
“At first? Convince you to sell.”
“And when I refused?”
“He said your authorization could be expanded.”
Elise leaned forward.
“Expanded how?”
Faye looked at her.
“I don't know legal language.”
“Tell us his words.”
“He said Marshall had already authorized me to manage the property and that a broader document could reflect what he intended.”
Marshall stared.
“You knew I didn't intend to sell.”
“Yes.”
“Then you knew it was false.”
Faye started crying.
“Yes.”
Silence.
Marshall looked out the window.
The confession should have felt like victory.
It didn't.
“Why keep going?”
“Grant showed me the estate transfer.”
“Blackmail.”
“He said if I backed out, he'd give it to police and you.”
“You think stealing my house would make me less upset about the estate?”
“I wasn't thinking.”
“No. You were.”
Faye flinched.
“You were thinking about what you wanted.”
She nodded.
“Yes.”
“And the guardianship?”
“That came later.”
“How?”
“Grant said the sale could become a problem if you challenged it immediately. He said you would try to move the boys back into the house and create a public scene.”
“It's my house.”
“I know.”
“So he wanted them gone.”
“Yes.”
“Why Colorado?”
“Grant said if I had the boys, you would focus on getting them back instead of the deed.”
Marshall stared.
The children were leverage.
Exactly as he feared.
“And after that?”
“He said we could file for temporary guardianship because you'd become unstable.”
“What evidence?”
Faye looked ashamed.
“Your travel.”
“That's work.”
“I know.”
“Your grief.”
“You mean my wife dying.”
“Yes.”
“My finances?”
“Grant created reports.”
“What reports?”
“He said money was missing from Dean and Miles's trust.”
Marshall's stomach dropped.
“Is it?”
“I don't know.”
Elise immediately looked at Marshall.
They needed an audit.
Faye continued.
“Grant said he could show you mismanaged it.”
“Did you believe him?”
“At first.”
“Then?”
“I stopped asking.”
That phrase was becoming a theme.
“What did you believe would happen after you got guardianship?”
“I'd stay with the boys in Colorado.”
“At Grant's house.”
“Yes.”
“And Grant would control their trust.”
“Yes.”
“How much did he promise you?”
Faye hesitated.
“An annual guardian allowance.”
“How much?”
“Two hundred thousand.”
Marshall almost laughed.
“You were going to take my children for a salary.”
“I thought I was protecting them.”
“No.”
Faye looked at him.
Marshall's voice was calm.
“You don't get to use that word.”
She cried harder.
“You hit Miles because he wouldn't eat.”
“I lost my temper.”
“You humiliated Dean.”
“He hates me.”
“He learned to fear you.”
“I was overwhelmed.”
“You could have left.”
“And go where?”
“There it is.”
Faye stopped.
Marshall looked at his sister and finally understood.
She had convinced herself captivity was generosity because leaving meant losing the house, money, and role she believed she deserved.
“What did you mean when you told Dean I couldn't bring them back after the sale?”
Faye wiped her face.
“Grant said once Cedar Vale took possession, you would be trespassing if you entered.”
“That was about the house?”
“At first.”
“What do you mean at first?”
She looked away.
“Later he said if the guardianship petition was granted, you wouldn't be allowed to remove the boys from Colorado without an order.”
Marshall's stomach turned.
“You believed that?”
“He showed me papers.”
“Draft papers.”
“Yes.”
“You were willing to risk my children on legal documents from a man blackmailing you.”
Faye had no answer.
Elise shifted.
“Faye, if you want any chance of cooperation being considered, we need the rest.”
“The rest?”
“Phase Two.”
Faye went pale.
Marshall leaned forward.
“What is Phase Two?”
She looked at him.
Then whispered:
“Demolition.”
Marshall stared.
“What?”
“Grant said Cedar Vale needed the house empty because they planned to tear it down immediately.”
The room became silent.
“Why immediately?”
“I don't know.”
“Faye.”
“I swear.”
Elise looked at her.
“Developers do not normally rush to demolish a luxury home before title litigation clears unless they're trying to destroy something besides the structure.”
Marshall felt cold.
Something inside Willow Crest mattered.
Not just the land.
He remembered Lillian's hidden investigation.
May you like
And suddenly wondered whether she had left evidence somewhere in the house.
Evidence Grant knew existed.
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