Chapter 3 - The Grandmother's WillThe crowd erupted into frantic whispers. Guests began recording not my humiliation, but the spectacular public collapse of the Sterling family dynasty.
"This is absurd! She's lying!" my father shouted, stepping toward the microphone. "Nora has been mentally unstable since the accident! Officers, remove her!"
But the fire investigators didn't move toward me. Instead, they stepped directly in front of my father, showing him an official warrant.
Richard Vance stepped up to the microphone. "Mr. Sterling, as the executor of your late mother Evelyn’s estate, I am here to execute her final wishes. According to the terms of her trust, the ownership of this entire coastal estate, the family trust funds, and the controlling shares of the skincare empire do not pass to you or Katherine. They were held in trust until the twins reached their eighteenth birthday."
My mother froze. "What?"
"The trust states," Richard continued, "that if any party was found to have engaged in criminal negligence, insurance fraud, or the physical abuse of an heir, their rights to the estate would be permanently forfeited. Thanks to a comprehensive forensic audit and new physical evidence submitted by Nora, the board has made its decision."
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I looked down at Lila, who was sobbing silently on the floor. "This morning, Lila tried to make me sign a release form. She wanted me to give up my medical records and sign away my rights to Grandmother's inheritance before midnight. She thought she was being clever. But she forgot that while she was being groomed for the cameras, I spent my childhood in hospital rooms reading our family’s legal contracts."
I pulled a folded piece of paper from my robe on the floor and handed it to Richard. "I didn't sign the release, Lila. I signed the authorization to reopen the arson investigation."
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