Chapter 5 - The Will in Lorraine’s Drawer
I had signed my will two years earlier.
No one knew except Garrett, my attorney, and Maya.
I wasn’t dying.
I wasn’t sick.
I was simply self-employed, owned property, and believed adults should prepare documents before they needed them.
The will was straightforward.
If I died, Garrett would receive a portion of my estate.
My remaining assets would be divided between a charitable foundation and my younger brother, Lucas.
The condo, however, would go to Garrett outright.
At the time, that had felt like love.
Now it felt like evidence.
I met Garrett in the parking lot outside Diane’s office because I refused to be alone with him.
He looked terrible.
Unshaven.
Wrinkled shirt.
Red eyes.
“Where are you staying?” I asked.
“Tabitha’s.”
“The house I helped finance without knowing?”
He flinched.
“Rachel.”
“Sorry. Reflex.”
He handed me a folder.
“I took these from Mom’s desk.”
Inside were copies of my tax returns.
Client contracts.
A property appraisal for my condo.
A credit report.
And my will.
My hands shook.
“How did she get these?”
“I don’t know.”
“You had access to some.”
“Not the credit report.”
“Did you give her my will?”
“No.”
“Garrett.”
“I swear.”
“Did you ever send it to yourself?”
“No.”
“How did she get it?”
“I don’t know.”
Diane entered the conference room and examined everything.
“Where exactly did you find these?”
“My mother has a locked filing cabinet.”
“Why were you looking?”
Garrett looked ashamed.
“Because of what Rachel said about the loan. I wanted to find the original papers.”
“And?”
“I found this.”
He pulled another document from his jacket.
Diane read it.
Her expression changed.
“What?”
I leaned forward.
She placed it on the table.
It was a handwritten list.
RACHEL — CURRENT ESTIMATED VALUE
Condo: $685,000
Business accounts: $214,000
Retirement: $162,000
Brokerage: $97,000
Insurance: $500,000
Approximate total: $1.65M
I stared.
My mother-in-law had calculated what I was worth.
Garrett looked sick.
“I didn’t know.”
I laughed.
“Your mother has an inventory of my death.”
“Don’t say that.”
“What would you call it?”
Diane remained calm.
“Do we have evidence Lorraine intended physical harm?”
“No,” Garrett said quickly.
“Did she ever discuss Rachel’s life insurance?”
His face changed.
My heart stopped.
“Garrett.”
He stared at the table.
“When?”
He swallowed.
“Last year.”
“What did she say?”
“She asked whether you had insurance.”
“Why?”
“I told her you were going on that work trip to Chicago.”
“And?”
“She said if anything ever happened to you, I should make sure I wasn’t left with nothing.”
My skin prickled.
“That could be normal,” Diane said carefully. “Unpleasant, but not necessarily threatening.”
Garrett shook his head.
“There’s something else.”
Of course there was.
“My mom wanted me to increase the policy.”
I stared.
“What?”
“She said successful couples should have more coverage.”
“Did you?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“Because it felt weird.”
I almost laughed.
After everything, that was where he had drawn the line.
Feeling weird.
Diane leaned forward.
“Garrett, I need you to be completely honest. Has Lorraine ever encouraged you to take actions that could financially benefit you if Rachel died?”
“No.”
“Has she ever mentioned accidental death?”
“No.”
“Has she ever asked about beneficiaries?”
“Yes.”
My breath caught.
“When?”
“Several times.”
Diane wrote something down.
“Rachel, I recommend filing for a protective financial order immediately and notifying the insurance carrier that no beneficiary changes can be made without enhanced verification.”
I nodded.
Garrett looked at me.
“Do you think Mom would hurt you?”
I stared at him.
“I think your mother has already hurt me.”
“You know what I mean.”
“No. I don’t think Lorraine is going to murder me.”
His shoulders relaxed slightly.
“But I also didn’t think she would forge my signature.”
He looked down.
That evening, Frank delivered two boxes of old records to Diane’s office.
Inside was the history Lorraine had convinced everyone never existed.
She had opened credit cards in Frank’s name.
Used his business accounts to cover personal investments.
Transferred money into accounts controlled by her sister.
The pattern was almost identical.
But one document caught my attention.
A twenty-year-old property statement.
Suncrest Investments.
I stared.
“Suncrest existed back then?”
Frank nodded.
“She used that name during our marriage.”
Marcus leaned forward.
“Suncrest Family Holdings was registered eighteen months ago.”
Frank shook his head.
“Not the first one.”
He pulled out an old incorporation document.
Lorraine had formed Suncrest Investments twenty-two years earlier.
It dissolved during the divorce.
“She restarted it,” I whispered.
“Looks like it.”
“This wasn’t spontaneous.”
“No.”
My phone rang.
Tabitha.
I almost ignored it.
Then answered.
“What?”
She was crying.
“Rachel, where’s Garrett?”
“I don’t know.”
“He left.”
“Then call him.”
“I did. He won’t answer.”
“What do you want from me?”
“I found something.”
I closed my eyes.
Apparently everyone was discovering hidden documents now.
“What?”
“My house.”
“What about it?”
“Mom doesn’t own my share.”
I frowned.
“Garrett said you transferred it.”
“I didn’t.”
“Then who did?”
Silence.
“Tabitha.”
“My signature is fake.”
I stopped.
“What?”
“I never signed anything transferring ownership.”
The room went silent around me.
Tabitha continued sobbing.
“I called the title company. They emailed me the document. That isn’t my signature.”
My eyes met Diane’s.
Lorraine had forged mine.
Now apparently Tabitha’s too.
“Where are you?”
“At home.”
“Do not confront your mother.”
“Why?”
“Because we don’t know how much she’s done.”
Tabitha whispered something so quietly I almost missed it.
“What?”
“I already confronted her.”
My stomach dropped.
“When?”
“Twenty minutes ago.”
“And?”
“She told me Garrett helped her.”
I looked toward the empty chair where my husband had been sitting only hours earlier.
“What exactly did she say?”
May you like
Tabitha began crying harder.
“She said my brother knew everything.”
