Chapter 5 - What Their Mother Had Hidden
Kendra had never noticed the missing pages.
That frightened her almost as much as the forgery.
“What was Schedule C?” she asked.
Lena remained standing over the binder.
“A private memorandum your mother asked me to attach to the trust file.”
“Legal instructions?”
“Partly. Mostly explanatory.”
“About what?”
“Why she appointed you trustee.”
Kendra stared at her.
“You told us it was because Brielle was twenty-one.”
“That was one reason.”
“What was the other?”
Lena hesitated.
“Your mother believed Brielle was vulnerable to financial pressure.”
Kendra laughed without humor.
“That describes half the people in their twenties.”
“She was more specific.”
Lena sat.
“Brielle had accumulated almost sixty thousand dollars in private debt before Evelyn died.”
Kendra’s eyebrows lifted.
“I knew about the credit cards.”
“You did not know about the personal loans.”
“No.”
“Evelyn paid several creditors quietly.”
Kendra looked toward the empty plastic sleeve.
“And she documented that?”
“In Schedule C.”
“Why?”
“Because she anticipated Brielle might someday interpret the trustee arrangement as favoritism.”
Kendra closed her eyes.
Of course.
That was exactly what had happened.
“Why didn’t you give Brielle a copy?”
“Your mother instructed me to provide it when Brielle turned twenty-five, unless there was a compelling reason not to.”
Kendra looked sharply at Lena.
“She’s twenty-seven.”
“I know.”
“So why didn’t you?”
Lena’s face tightened.
“Because the original disappeared two years ago.”
Kendra stared.
“Two years?”
“I believed it had been misfiled.”
“You didn’t tell me.”
“I should have.”
The room became silent.
Kendra’s first instinct was anger.
Then she asked the more important question.
“Who had access?”
“Me. Two paralegals. You, when you reviewed the annual accounting.”
“And Adrian?”
Lena paused.
“He came here with you once.”
Kendra remembered.
Three years earlier.
They had been discussing improvements to Dawson Row.
Adrian had wandered through the conference room while Kendra met with Lena.
“Did he have access to the binder?”
“Not legitimately.”
The word hung between them.
Kendra stood.
“I need to talk to Brielle.”
Lena nodded.
“Do it somewhere public.”
Kendra drove to a small café near Brielle’s apartment.
Her sister was already there.
Brielle looked terrible.
No makeup.
Hair pulled back.
Eyes swollen.
Kendra sat across from her.
For several seconds neither spoke.
Then Brielle whispered, “I know you hate me.”
“That isn’t why I’m here.”
Brielle looked up.
“Where did you get the document with my signature?”
Brielle’s expression changed.
“Adrian showed it to me.”
“When?”
“Last winter.”
“Before or after you slept with him?”
Brielle flinched.
“Before.”
Kendra studied her.
“How long before?”
“Two weeks.”
A pattern.
Adrian had opened the financial wound first.
Then the marriage.
“What did he tell you?”
Brielle rubbed her thumb against the edge of the table.
“He said you were planning to sell Dawson Row to a developer.”
“I wasn’t.”
“I know that now.”
“He told you I would steal your share?”
“He said the trust structure allowed you to keep most of the proceeds under management.”
“That’s technically true. It doesn’t mean the money becomes mine.”
“I didn’t understand that.”
“You could have called Lena.”
“I didn’t trust Lena.”
“Why?”
“Because Adrian showed me a document from Mom.”
Kendra went still.
“What document?”
Brielle swallowed.
“A letter.”
“Schedule C?”
“I don’t know what it was called.”
“What did it say?”
“That Mom put you in charge because she thought I was irresponsible.”
Kendra’s anger shifted.
“Where is it?”
“Adrian had it.”
“How?”
“He said he found it in your office at home.”
Kendra’s pulse jumped.
“Adrian went through my trust files?”
“He told me you gave him access.”
“I did not.”
Brielle looked down.
Kendra leaned toward her.
“Did you ever see the original?”
“A photocopy.”
“Did it mention your debt?”
Brielle’s face tightened.
“Yes.”
Silence.
Humiliation washed over her.
“Mom told you?” Kendra asked.
“No.”
Brielle’s voice cracked.
“I learned from Adrian.”
Kendra understood then.
Adrian had not simply shown Brielle evidence that their mother distrusted her.
He had chosen the most painful version possible.
“He told you I knew.”
Brielle nodded.
“He said you’d known for years and laughed about it with him.”
Kendra’s mouth opened.
“I never knew.”
“I know.”
“How?”
“Because I saw your face just now.”
Kendra leaned back.
For the first time that day, Brielle looked less like a rival.
And more like a woman who had realized someone had carefully arranged the walls around her.
But Kendra did not soften.
“You still slept with my husband.”
“Yes.”
“You still let him call you his wife.”
Brielle’s eyes filled again.
“Yes.”
“And you still signed property documents.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Brielle wiped her cheek.
“Because he told me once Dawson Row was sold, we could finally stop living under your control.”
Kendra stared.
“We?”
Brielle’s eyes closed.
Kendra already knew the answer.
Still, she made her say it.
“What did Adrian promise you?”
May you like
Brielle whispered:
“That when he divorced you, he would marry me.”
