Chapter 10 - Genevieve Took Rowan Out of the HouseGenevieve left the Ashford estate before sunrise.
No debate.
No family vote.
No concern about appearances.
She took Rowan to a secure hotel under police protection.
Maribel came voluntarily because someone had used her as part of the setup.
Yolanda stayed behind with investigators.
Callum wanted to come.
Genevieve said no.
“You don't trust me.”
“I don't trust anyone completely.”
He flinched.
Then nodded.
“Fair.”
Rowan sat on the hotel bed with room-service pancakes.
He seemed calmer.
Children adapted strangely.
One minute frightened.
The next arguing about whether chocolate chips belonged in pancakes.
Genevieve watched him eat.
“Mom?”
“Yes?”
“Did Grandpa think Uncle Callum was bad?”
She sat beside him.
“I think Grandpa was scared and didn't know who to trust.”
“Was Uncle Callum stealing?”
“No.”
“Then why did Grandpa say his name?”
“Because Uncle Callum signed something he didn't understand.”
Rowan frowned.
“Like clicking accept without reading?”
Genevieve almost smiled.
“Much more expensive version.”
“That's dumb.”
“Yes.”
“Is Grandpa dumb?”
“He was sometimes.”
Rowan seemed relieved.
Dead people didn't need to become perfect.
Then:
“Is Miss Maribel bad?”
“No.”
“Why was she holding me?”
“We're still figuring that out.”
Rowan thought.
“I remember.”
Genevieve turned.
“What?”
“She was trying to stop me from touching the pills.”
That changed the scene.
Maribel hadn't been holding Rowan down.
She had been pulling him away from medication while sedated and confused.
“What happened before that?”
“I heard Grandpa’s voice.”
“From the bag?”
“Yes.”
“I opened it.”
“Why?”
“It beeped.”
The recorder must have activated automatically.
“Then?”
“Miss Maribel came in.”
“She looked sleepy.”
“I showed her.”
“She said, ‘Where did that come from?’”
“Then?”
“Mr. Harrison came.”
Genevieve’s pulse accelerated.
“He was in the room?”
“Yes.”
“What did he do?”
“He told Miss Maribel she looked sick.”
“Then?”
“He dropped something.”
“The pills?”
Rowan nodded.
“I picked one up.”
“And Maribel grabbed you.”
“Yes.”
Genevieve closed her eyes.
Exactly.
Harrison scattered the pills.
Maribel tried to stop Rowan.
Genevieve arrived mid-action.
The scene was designed to make Maribel look dangerous.
But Harrison miscalculated Rowan.
He remembered.
Detective Morgan recorded his statement carefully.
Then asked:
“Did Harrison touch the recorder?”
Rowan thought.
“Yes.”
“When?”
“He tried to take it.”
“Did Maribel stop him?”
“Yes.”
“What happened?”
“She put it in her bag.”
Even drugged, Maribel had protected evidence she didn't understand.
That explained why Harrison hadn't retrieved it before Genevieve arrived.
Maribel began crying when she heard.
“I don't remember.”
Genevieve looked at her.
“You protected my son.”
“I also slept through half of it.”
“You were drugged.”
Maribel wiped her eyes.
“I should have noticed.”
“No.”
Genevieve had spent too much time blaming herself for other people’s deception.
She recognized it now.
“Harrison did this.”
Maribel nodded slowly.
Police issued a warrant.
Harrison’s phone went dark.
His last location pinged near a private airfield.
Callum called.
“Malcolm owns a hangar there.”
Genevieve stared.
“Why didn't we know?”
“Shell company.”
Everything led back.
Federal agents joined because of financial fraud and possible witness intimidation.
Then a jet filed a flight plan to Montreal.
Registered to Voss Holdings.
Authorities stopped it before takeoff.
Passengers:
Malcolm Voss.
Harrison Pike.
And—
Sebastian Reed.
Genevieve froze.
“Sebastian was with them?”
Alive.
Bruised.
But not restrained.
That looked bad.
Then officers separated them.
Sebastian immediately asked for an attorney.
Malcolm said nothing.
Harrison claimed he had been kidnapped.
Nobody believed him.
Police recovered a small metal case.
Inside—
the original Orchard House recording.
And a DNA report.
Sebastian Reed.
Everett Ashford.
Probability of paternity:
99.96%.
Genevieve stared.
Sebastian was her half-brother.
He had known.
Maybe Everett had too.
Then Detective Morgan opened another envelope from the case.
A copy of Everett’s revised will.
Never filed.
It left Sebastian ten percent of Ashford Meridian.
Callum whispered:
“That would dilute all of us.”
Genevieve didn't care.
But Malcolm did.
Because the will also contained a paragraph:
Any beneficiary found to have participated in Project Orchard financial activity forfeits all rights.
Someone had suppressed this will.
Someone in the family.
The witness signature belonged to Rachel Foster.
Everett’s attorney.
Genevieve immediately called her.
No answer.
Police went to Rachel’s home.
She was gone.
On her kitchen table sat one note.
I did what Everett asked.
Then another sentence.
But I never knew which version of him to obey.
Genevieve stared.
May you like
There had been more than one will.
And apparently Everett himself had created the confusion.
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