Chapter 10 - The Paper Trail.
For a moment, I could hear nothing except blood pounding in my ears.
The trust had not simply been a way to pay Havenridge.
Havenridge was part of a larger strategy.
Rebecca and Vincent wanted documentation showing that I was incapable of making decisions for Lily.
If they could portray me as unstable, overprotective, or unwilling to follow professional recommendations, they could attack my role as trustee.
Hannah stared at the phone.
"There's more."
I did not want to hear more.
I needed to hear all of it.
She pressed play again.
Vincent's recorded voice explained that a newly married spouse with documented caregiving involvement could potentially petition for limited authority if the child's welfare was supposedly at risk.
He repeatedly warned Rebecca that nothing was guaranteed.
Rebecca replied that she did not need guaranteed.
"I need pressure," she said on the recording.
"Ethan folds when Lily is scared."
I looked at my daughter.
Rebecca had studied the most vulnerable part of me and turned it into a strategy.
The recording ended.
Gavin lowered himself into a chair.
"I didn't know any of this."
Rebecca glared at him.
"You knew enough."
His head snapped up.
"I witnessed one form because you lied to me."
"You enjoyed every favor my relationship with Ethan bought you."
Gavin went pale.
I turned toward him.
"What favors?"
He did not answer.
Rebecca smiled bitterly.
"Ask him how his construction company got the Franklin renovation contract."
I felt another piece fall into place.
Three months earlier, I had recommended Gavin's small contracting firm to a developer I trusted.
The contract was worth nearly two million dollars.
Gavin stood abruptly.
"That has nothing to do with this."
"It has everything to do with this," Rebecca said.
"You signed because you didn't want Ethan asking questions."
Gavin looked sick.
"You told me the form replaced one Ethan already signed."
"And you believed what was convenient."
Hannah's phone buzzed.
A text appeared from someone saved as Mother.
Where are you?
The officiant found the envelope.
Rebecca went completely still.
Hannah looked at her.
"What envelope?"
Rebecca reached for the phone again, but Caleb took it first.
"Nobody touches anything."
I walked into the hall and found Reverend Collins speaking quietly to one of the venue coordinators.
He was holding a thick ivory envelope with my name written across the front.
"Ethan, I was told to give this to you immediately after the ceremony."
"Who told you?"
He looked uncomfortable.
"Rebecca's mother."
I broke the seal.
Inside was a congratulatory card, a pen, and a stack of documents marked where I was supposed to sign.
The first was a postnuptial financial authorization.
The second granted Rebecca limited power of attorney during my business travel.
The third authorized her to communicate with institutions managing Lily's trust.
Sticky arrows marked every signature line.
At the bottom of the packet was a handwritten note.
Get these signed while he is emotional.
Diane.
May you like
Rebecca's mother had not merely known about the plan.
She had been helping run it.
