Chapter 6 - Ten Days
Vincent’s financial problem now had a deadline.
Ten days.
If North Harbor failed to repay its lender, millions in debt would become immediately due.
The supposed guarantee bearing Nia’s forged signature gave the lender a path toward assets Vincent did not own.
It would not necessarily survive legal scrutiny.
But Vincent had apparently planned to create a moment when no one would challenge it quickly enough.
Edward dead.
Nia declared incapacitated.
Vincent installed as trustee.
Money transferred.
Debt erased.
Then lawyers could argue afterward.
By then, the money would be gone.
Detective Bell called it a “speed fraud.”
Edward called it something simpler.
“Desperation.”
The next morning, Nia met Edward’s longtime attorney, Leonard Pike, at the hospital.
Pike was sixty-four, narrow-faced and immaculate.
He carried two leather folders.
“I’ve represented your father for twenty-three years,” he said. “I have never seen the document found at the mansion.”
“So the amendment is fake?”
“Almost certainly. But I want the original examined.”
Nia crossed her arms.
“Why almost?”
“Because good lawyers don’t certify conclusions before examining evidence.”
Edward blinked twice approvingly.
Nia almost smiled.
Pike placed the authentic trust summary on the table.
“Your father remains trustee while living and competent. You become successor trustee after his death or formal incapacity. Vincent has no independent authority.”
“Could Dad remove me?”
“Yes.”
“Could he add Vincent?”
“Yes.”
Nia looked at Edward.
“But he didn’t.”
Pike shook his head.
“No.”
“Could I appoint Vincent after Dad died?”
“In some circumstances, you could delegate administrative functions. You could not casually hand him ownership.”
“So Vincent’s fake document oversimplified everything.”
“Fraud often does.”
Nia rubbed her hands together.
“Would banks accept it?”
“A sophisticated institution should demand authentication, death documentation, trustee certifications, possibly court involvement depending on the transaction.”
“Should.”
Pike nodded.
“Should.”
That word frightened her.
Because Vincent did not need every institution to fail.
Only one.
“Did he contact you?” Nia asked.
Pike’s face changed slightly.
“Three times.”
Edward’s eyes sharpened.
Pike continued.
“Vincent asked about the trust’s transition procedures.”
“When?”
“Over the last six months.”
“You didn’t tell Dad?”
“I did.”
Nia looked toward Edward.
He did not deny it.
“What exactly did Vincent ask?”
Pike opened his notes.
“Whether a successor trustee could obtain immediate control after death. Whether preliminary death documentation was sufficient. Whether a spouse of the successor trustee could act under power of attorney.”
Nia felt nauseated.
“And you answered him?”
“I gave general answers and told him your father’s estate plan was confidential.”
“Did that stop him?”
“No.”
Pike slid another page forward.
“His final question was different.”
Nia read.
IF NIA WERE MEDICALLY UNABLE TO SERVE, WHO WOULD CONTROL THE HARRINGTON TRUST?
She stared at it.
“He was building the plan in front of everyone.”
“Pieces of it,” Pike said.
Edward used his device.
“I should have confronted him.”
Nia shook her head.
“He might have moved sooner.”
Pike looked at Edward.
“There’s something else you need to tell her.”
Edward became still.
Nia noticed immediately.
“What?”
Pike waited.
Edward selected several words slowly.
“I prepared a new amendment.”
Nia stared at him.
“You what?”
“It was never signed.”
“What did it do?”
Edward’s eyes remained on hers.
“Protected your inheritance from Vincent.”
The anger came before understanding.
“You were changing my inheritance because you hated my husband?”
“No.”
The synthetic voice sounded too calm for Edward’s expression.
“I was creating a lifetime trust for you.”
“So I wouldn’t control my own money.”
“So Vincent could not.”
“That is the same thing!”
Edward’s face tightened.
Pike intervened.
“Nia, the draft would have allowed you substantial access. Your father was concerned about marital claims, coercion, and creditor exposure.”
“Without telling me.”
Edward selected:
“Yes.”
She stood.
“You still don’t understand.”
“Nia—”
“You keep making decisions for me because you think you know better.”
Edward looked devastated.
She hated herself for saying it.
But she did not take it back.
Because love did not erase truth.
The room fell silent.
Pike closed the folder.
Then his phone buzzed.
He read a message.
His expression darkened.
“What?”
Pike looked at Edward.
“Someone accessed your secure client portal last night.”
Nia’s anger vanished.
“From where?”
“We’re tracing it.”
“What was accessed?”
Pike looked at her.
“The unsigned draft amendment.”
The one designed to protect Nia from Vincent.
Nia understood immediately.
“If Vincent got that draft…”
Pike nodded.
“He now knows exactly how your father planned to stop him.”
Edward’s eyes widened.
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Pike continued.
“And whoever accessed it downloaded the signature pages.”
