Chapter 8 - THE MAN WHO RECOGNIZED MY MOTHER'S SIGNATURE
His name was Adrian Vale.
Forty-one.
A private equity investor.
And one of my late mother's closest business allies.
I'd known him since I was seventeen.
He'd attended my graduation.
Sent flowers when my mother died.
And once told me that the greatest mistake wealthy families made was confusing trust with oversight.
I hadn't understood him then.
Now I did.
Margaret arranged a meeting.
Adrian examined the financial records.
Then stopped.
“Where did this come from?”
I looked at the page.
“Ethan's office.”
Adrian's expression hardened.
“This signature.”
He pointed.
“It's your mother's.”
I stared.
“My mother died seven years ago.”
He nodded.
“I know.”
The document was dated only two years earlier.
My stomach dropped.
Adrian looked at Margaret.
“This needs to be examined immediately.”
Then he turned toward me.
“Laura, someone may have been using your family's old records to support transactions long after your mother's death.”
I stared.
And suddenly, the betrayal felt larger than my marriage.
May you like
It reached into my family's legacy.
Into everything my parents and grandparents had built.
