My Eight-Year-Old Daughter Was Forced to Eat From a Dog Bowl While My Wife Ate Grapes—Until Our Maid Made One Secret Phone Call That Exposed Everything / Chapter 11 / 24

Chapter 12 - The Woman Who Managed the TrustEvelyn Price did not deny attending the meeting.

When Daniel showed her the photograph, she studied it carefully.

"That was a financial planning conference," she said.

"Did you know Vanessa?"

"Not personally. Julian introduced her as a potential investor."

"And you never mentioned this?"

"I didn't remember her immediately when you married. Her surname was different."

Daniel leaned forward.

"Did they know about Amara's trust?"

Evelyn took off her glasses.

"Daniel, you need to understand that the trust was established before Amara died. Its records were not generally public. I did not disclose confidential information."

"But Julian later contacted you."

"Yes. Claiming to represent Vanessa as Naomi's caregiver."

"What did he want?"

"He requested authority for Vanessa to direct distributions related to Naomi's education and treatment."

"Did you give it?"

"No."

Evelyn opened a file.

"Here are the requests. I rejected the unsupported payments and asked for independent verification."

Daniel read the documents.

BrightPath had proposed a yearlong residential therapeutic program costing $186,000.

The program's address was a property in the outskirts of Atlanta.

It was owned by another company connected to Julian Vale.

Daniel looked up.

"They wanted to send Naomi away?"

"They proposed it. No placement was approved."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"I tried. My office sent notices to your listed mailing address and contacted your business office."

Daniel remembered Monica saying Evelyn had been trying to reach him.

"Who received them?"

"We have signed delivery records."

Evelyn retrieved a scanned receipt.

The signature belonged to Vanessa.

Daniel stared at it.

He remembered the times his wife had joked about handling his mountains of paperwork.

He had laughed.

He had told people she made his life easier.

"How much money is in Naomi's trust?" he asked.

Evelyn answered carefully.

"Approximately $7.8 million at the most recent valuation, including marketable investments and a minority interest in a family holding company. The value fluctuates."

Daniel looked down.

Amara's family had owned a successful transportation property business. Those assets had become part of Naomi's future.

His daughter was wealthy on paper.

Yet she had begged for rice from a bowl on the floor.

The contrast made him feel physically sick.

Evelyn slid another document across the table.

"Julian submitted this last week."

It was an unsigned draft petition seeking appointment of a conservator to manage Naomi's property interests, accompanied by allegations that Daniel was financially irresponsible and absent.

Daniel scanned the pages.

Vanessa proposed herself as the responsible adult.

He looked up.

"Can she do that?"

"She can seek legal relief, but filing a petition doesn't mean a court will grant it. There would be procedures, notice, and judicial scrutiny. As an independent trustee, I would oppose unsupported attempts to displace the trust's protections."

Daniel stared at Vanessa's typed name.

She had portrayed him as an unfit guardian.

Some allegations relied on his actual absences.

Others were false.

He understood the danger.

She had been combining pieces of truth with lies.

Evelyn lowered her voice.

"And there's another problem."

"What?"

"Someone tried to obtain Naomi's birth certificate and Amara's death certificate through a document service."

Daniel's eyes narrowed.

"Who?"