Chapter 3 - The Signature Eleanor Had Been PracticingDominic did not sleep.
At 4:18 a.m., he sat in his home office surrounded by paper.
Marta had shown him exactly which drawer Eleanor opened during his trips.
Nothing obvious was missing.
That worried him more.
People stealing objects left absence.
People stealing information left rooms looking untouched.
Dominic examined the scanner history.
His office printer stored recent jobs.
Tax forms.
Trust statements.
Insurance documents.
A scan of his driver’s license.
His signature page from a corporate authorization.
Printed twice.
He stared at the dates.
Both occurred while he was in Dallas.
Eleanor had access to enough information to impersonate him financially.
At 6:30, his attorney, Naomi Chen, arrived.
Dominic had known Naomi since law school, though he had gone into business instead.
She looked exhausted.
“Tell me this is less insane in person.”
“It’s worse.”
He handed her Samantha’s letter.
Naomi read slowly.
Then:
“You need forensic accounting.”
“Yes.”
“And corporate counsel.”
“Yes.”
“And you need to assume every document bearing your signature from the last year may be compromised.”
Dominic stared.
“Can someone transfer custody of children with copied signatures?”
“Not legally.”
“I didn’t ask legally.”
Naomi understood.
“With forged documents and cooperative institutions? Someone could create chaos.”
Dominic thought of Ivy’s “West something” school.
“Find any school with West in the name connected to Eleanor.”
Naomi nodded.
Then examined Samantha’s notebook.
“What is WHF Trust?”
“Westbrook-Hale.”
“Samantha’s family?”
“Yes.”
“What does it hold?”
“Originally land and investment assets. After Samantha died, most passed to Caleb and Ivy through separate subtrusts.”
“How much?”
“Maybe twelve million combined.”
Naomi stopped writing.
“Maybe?”
“I haven’t managed it.”
“Who has?”
Dominic closed his eyes.
“My mother.”
Naomi looked at him.
“Why?”
“Samantha’s will named Eleanor and me co-trustees.”
“That seems unusual.”
“It was temporary.”
“For how long?”
“Until the children turned ten.”
Naomi frowned.
“Caleb is twelve.”
Dominic froze.
He had never updated the structure.
After Samantha died, Eleanor handled administrative details because Dominic could barely function.
She told him everything continued automatically.
He believed her.
“Pull the trust.”
Naomi already had.
Her expression hardened.
“Dominic.”
“What?”
“Eleanor is still listed as active co-trustee.”
His stomach dropped.
“How?”
“There’s an amendment.”
“I didn’t sign one.”
Naomi turned her laptop.
Signature:
Dominic Vale.
Dated nineteen months ago.
Extending Eleanor’s authority until Ivy turned eighteen.
Dominic stared.
“That is not my signature.”
It looked like his.
Almost.
The D curved incorrectly.
Small enough most people would never notice.
Naomi said:
“We get the original.”
“And freeze distributions.”
“Immediately.”
Dominic looked toward the ceiling.
His children were asleep upstairs.
He had spent years believing he was protecting their inheritance by letting family manage it.
Instead, he handed the keys to the person now accused of terrorizing them.
At 7:45, Caleb came downstairs.
He stopped when he saw Naomi.
“Am I in trouble?”
Dominic stood.
“No.”
That question again.
“Come here.”
Caleb sat beside him.
Dominic showed him a simple breakfast.
Toast.
Eggs.
He needed normal things.
Caleb barely ate.
Then he asked:
“Is Grandma going to jail?”
Dominic paused.
“I don’t know.”
“Do you want her to?”
“I want you safe.”
“That’s not what I asked.”
Dominic looked at his son.
Twelve was old enough to hear uncertainty.
“I’m angry enough that part of me does.”
Caleb nodded.
“What about the other part?”
“She’s my mother.”
Caleb stared at his plate.
“She was nice before.”
Dominic’s chest tightened.
“What do you mean?”
“Before Mom died.”
“She changed?”
Caleb shrugged.
“Maybe.”
“Tell me.”
Caleb thought.
“She used to let us make pancakes.”
A tiny smile.
“Then after Mom died, she started saying we needed rules.”
“What rules?”
“Don’t talk about Mom too much.”
Dominic froze.
“What?”
“She said it made you sad.”
His throat closed.
Caleb continued.
“Don’t ask about the lake house.”
“What lake house?”
“Mom’s.”
Dominic frowned.
Samantha’s family owned property near Lake Gaston.
“What did Grandma say?”
“That Mom lost it.”
Dominic stared.
“She didn’t.”
At least he didn’t think she did.
Caleb continued:
“And don’t go in Mom’s sitting room.”
“Anything else?”
“Don’t ask why Ivy has a different trust.”
Dominic stopped.
“What?”
Caleb’s face changed.
“I wasn’t supposed to say that.”
Dominic felt cold.
“Who told you Ivy has a different trust?”
“Grandma.”
“When?”
“Last month.”
“What did she say?”
Caleb hesitated.
“That Ivy wasn’t supposed to get as much as me.”
Dominic looked at Naomi.
She immediately started searching.
Samantha had left equal shares.
Always.
“If Grandma told you that, she was lying.”
Caleb nodded.
“She said Mom changed it before she died because Ivy wasn’t…”
He stopped.
Dominic leaned closer.
“Wasn’t what?”
Caleb whispered:
“Really yours.”
Silence.
Dominic’s face went numb.
Naomi stopped typing.
Caleb rushed:
“I didn’t believe her.”
Dominic swallowed.
“Did she say why?”
“She said Mom had secrets.”
Dominic stood.
He walked toward the window because anger arrived too quickly.
Not at Samantha.
At Eleanor.
A paternity accusation.
Another tool to divide siblings.
Another reason to manipulate trust distributions.
Naomi asked carefully:
“Dominic, is there any chance—”
“No.”
He turned.
“Ivy is my daughter.”
“That isn’t what I’m asking emotionally.”
He understood.
“Biologically?”
“Yes.”
Dominic thought of Samantha.
Their marriage had struggled before her death.
His travel.
Her grief.
Arguments.
But infidelity?
He had never suspected.
“No.”
Then his phone rang.
Unknown number.
He answered.
“Mr. Vale?”
“Yes.”
“This is Westbridge Preparatory Residence.”
Dominic’s entire body went still.
West.
“I’m calling to confirm today’s emergency placement for Caleb and Ivy Vale.”
Dominic stared at Naomi.
“What?”
The woman continued:
“Your mother said you may be difficult to reach after your medical evaluation.”
Naomi’s eyes widened.
Dominic’s voice dropped.
“What medical evaluation?”
A pause.
Then:
“The one related to your temporary incapacity.”
And suddenly Dominic understood why Eleanor had been collecting his signature.
May you like
She had not only been preparing to remove his children.
She had been preparing a story in which Dominic could no longer stop her.
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