Chapter 7 - THE WOMAN FROM THE WEDDING
The altered pages changed everything.
The original trust required two independent trustees to approve any transfer of control.
The replacement version allowed my spouse to assume emergency authority if a doctor declared me incompetent.
“That means someone planned this before the wedding,” I said.
Rebecca nodded.
“Or someone took advantage of the wedding.”
“How would Ethan even get access?”
“Your old attorney’s office handled the records.”
“Martin Cole?”
“Yes.”
Martin had retired suddenly eighteen months earlier.
He was also one of Margaret’s oldest friends.
I remembered him at our wedding.
Gray suit.
Red tie.
Standing beside Margaret during cocktail hour.
At the time, I thought nothing of it.
Now my entire marriage felt like a crime scene.
Detective Ramirez tracked Martin down in Rhode Island.
By afternoon, he agreed to speak.
Not because he suddenly developed a conscience.
Because the police told him they were investigating attempted murder and financial fraud.
People remembered their morality quickly when prison entered the conversation.
Martin joined by video.
He looked twenty years older than I remembered.
“I didn’t know anyone would get hurt,” he said.
Rebecca leaned toward the screen.
“What did you do?”
“I changed two pages.”
“For Margaret?”
“For Ethan.”
The room went silent.
My throat tightened.
“Ethan asked you?”
Martin nodded.
“Before the wedding.”
“Why?”
“He said Claire’s father had structured the trust unfairly.”
“That’s not an answer.”
Martin looked at me through the screen.
“He said once you had a child, he needed control.”
I felt sick.
“Did Margaret know?”
“Yes.”
“Did they ever discuss hurting me?”
Martin looked away.
“Not then.”
“Not then?”
Ramirez leaned forward.
“When did that change?”
Martin swallowed.
“Last winter.”
“What happened?”
“Ethan’s company was in trouble.”
“How much trouble?”
“Bankruptcy trouble.”
Rebecca cursed quietly.
I remembered Ethan telling me business was booming.
New clients.
New expansion.
New offices.
All lies.
Martin continued.
“He needed liquidity.”
“So he stole from my trust.”
“Yes.”
“And when that wasn’t enough?”
Martin’s face crumpled.
“He said after the baby was born, they could get temporary control.”
“They?”
“Ethan and Margaret.”
My eyes burned.
Ramirez asked the next question.
“And Claire?”
Martin hesitated.
“Ethan said she didn’t have to die.”
Nobody moved.
I whispered, “What does that mean?”
Martin shut his eyes.
“He said she only had to look unstable.”
Then Ramirez’s phone rang.
She listened for several seconds.
Her face changed.
“What?”
She stood.
“When?”
She ended the call.
“Daniel Mercer’s house is on fire.”
My blood turned to ice.
“The neighbor?”
Ramirez grabbed her coat.
May you like
“The man holding the original video.”
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