Chapter 6 - The Woman Who Knew Too Much|
Daniel Price called Claire the following morning.
“I've reviewed the old financial authorization,” he said. “There is a problem.”
Claire sat at the kitchen table while Grace slept nearby.
“What kind of problem?”
“Your signature appears on a document that gives a family trust permission to use your identity for certain transfers. The document is dated three years ago.”
“I never signed anything like that.”
“Then we need to determine whether the signature is forged or whether the document was presented to you under false pretenses.”
Claire remembered a dinner at the penthouse, a stack of papers Adrian had asked her to sign, and his casual assurance that they concerned insurance.
“Can you get a copy of the original?”
“I'm trying. The trust's administrator says the records are confidential.”
Claire frowned.
“I'm named in the authorization. Surely that gives me a right to inspect it.”
“It may. But the administrator is refusing to cooperate until we establish the scope of your authority.”
Claire looked toward the window.
“Who controls the trust?”
“Adrian's family office. But the transfers were handled by a company associated with Richard Reynolds.”
Claire felt a chill.
Sophia's father.
“Is that illegal?”
“Not necessarily. But if your signature was forged, or if the documents were used to conceal assets, it could become serious.”
After the call, Claire searched through the boxes she had brought from the penthouse. She found wedding photographs, insurance documents, and several folders Adrian had once told her to keep.
At the bottom of one box was a small black notebook.
It belonged to Adrian's late father, who had died when Adrian was twenty-four.
Claire had found it years earlier in a desk drawer and had kept it because Adrian seemed unusually distressed when she mentioned it.
She opened it.
Most pages contained names, dates, and notes about business meetings. Near the back, one entry had been underlined twice.
R. Reynolds. Trust transfer. Never authorize without second signature.
Below it, another sentence had been written in different ink.
If anything happens to me, find Eleanor Bennett. She knows what Claire's mother witnessed.
Claire read it again.
Her mother.
Eleanor had never told her anything about the Moretti family before Claire met Adrian.
That evening, Claire placed the notebook on the kitchen table.
“Mom, what did you witness?”
Eleanor stopped pouring tea.
For a long moment, she did not move.
“Where did you find that?”
“In Adrian's father's notebook.”
Eleanor sat down slowly.
“I hoped this day would never come.”
Claire's heartbeat quickened.
“What does it mean?”
“Your father worked as an accountant for one of the Moretti companies before he died. He discovered money was being moved through shell businesses. He told me he believed someone was using the family organization to hide illegal transactions.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because he died before he could explain everything. And because Adrian's father came to me afterward and asked me to keep quiet.”
Claire stared at her mother.
“You knew there was something wrong before I married Adrian?”
“I knew there were rumors. I did not know Adrian was involved.”
“Did you warn me?”
Eleanor lowered her eyes.
“I thought I was protecting you.”
Claire pushed back her chair, overwhelmed by anger and confusion.
“Everyone keeps deciding what I can handle.”
Eleanor reached for her hand.
“I am sorry.”
Claire pulled away, not because she stopped loving her mother, but because she suddenly understood how many people had mistaken silence for protection.
May you like
She picked up the notebook.
“Then we're going to find out the truth.”
