Chapter 4 - Someone Had Signed My Name
I read my father's words twice before continuing.
Around me, no one spoke.
Even Austin.
Dad had written the letter six weeks before his death.
His handwriting wasn't as strong as it once had been, but every line was unmistakably his.
Laura, if you're reading this, they have done exactly what I feared.
Do not confuse keeping peace with doing what is right.
I swallowed.
My mother shifted.
“What does he say?”
I continued silently.
My father explained that he had discovered “serious financial conduct” involving accounts connected to several family properties.
He named no criminal offense.
Dad had always been careful with language.
Instead, he described transfers, unauthorized commitments, and investments he believed had been concealed from him.
Then he wrote the sentence that made me look at Austin.
I gave him opportunities because I hoped responsibility would teach him discipline. Instead, I fear access to money taught him entitlement.
Austin saw my expression.
“What?”
I placed the letter down.
Charles already knew.
Of course he did.
Dad's instructions continued.
If the trust was challenged, Charles was authorized to reveal the financial review.
Not because Dad wanted revenge.
Because he believed my mother and Austin might use legal pressure to make me surrender assets without understanding why those assets were being demanded.
My father wanted me to know.
Austin's business was failing.
Badly.
Daniel began explaining.
Austin's company, Valecrest Development, had expanded aggressively during the previous two years.
Luxury residential projects.
Commercial redevelopment.
Private investors.
Everything looked successful from the outside.
Magazine profiles.
Charity events.
Photographs beside local politicians.
Austin had spent years curating the image.
But behind it, Valecrest was drowning.
One project had been delayed.
Another lost financing.
A major investor pulled out.
Loans came due.
Then came the transfers.
My mother sat slowly.
“You told me the company was fine.”
Austin rubbed his face.
“It is.”
Daniel looked at him.
“It isn't.”
“You don't know my company.”
“I've reviewed eleven months of its financial statements.”
Austin stared.
“How?”
Daniel didn't answer.
He didn't need to.
My father.
Dad had investigated before he died.
Gregory spoke carefully.
“Richard asked questions.”
My mother turned.
“You knew about this?”
“He suspected something.”
“You knew?”
“I knew Austin needed help.”
Her voice rose.
“And you didn't tell me?”
Gregory's jaw tightened.
“You would've panicked.”
“I am panicking!”
Austin stood.
“Everybody stop.”
Nobody did.
Evelyn turned on him.
“Did you take money?”
“I borrowed it.”
“From what?”
“Family accounts.”
“Without telling Richard?”
Austin's face hardened.
“He would have said no.”
My mother's mouth opened.
Nothing came out.
There it was.
A confession disguised as justification.
I looked at Austin.
“How much?”
He ignored me.
“Austin.”
“It's complicated.”
“How much?”
Daniel answered.
“Based on the records currently available, approximately $1.2 million.”
My mother grabbed the edge of the table.
“Dear God.”
Austin exploded.
“It wasn't one-point-two million in cash!”
“No one said it was.”
“Some were transfers! Guarantees! Temporary advances!”
“Authorized by whom?”
“Gregory knew.”
Everyone looked at my stepfather.
Gregory closed his eyes.
My mother's face crumpled.
“You helped him?”
Gregory said nothing.
She whispered, “You helped him take Richard's money?”
“I thought we could replace it before Richard noticed.”
I felt physically cold.
Not because of the amount.
Because my father had been dying while the people in his own home calculated whether they could replace money before he found out.
My mother's eyes filled.
“You let me sit beside his hospital bed without telling me?”
Gregory looked ashamed.
“I was trying to protect the family.”
I almost laughed.
That phrase again.
Protect the family.
Every betrayal in my family apparently wore the same uniform.
Austin pointed at me.
“This is why Laura's trust matters.”
The room went silent.
I looked at him.
He realized too late what he had admitted.
I stood.
“Say that again.”
He shook his head.
“No.”
“You invited five attorneys here to pressure me because my inheritance was supposed to cover this.”
“That's not what I said.”
“It is exactly what you said.”
My mother rose.
“Laura, please.”
I turned to her.
“You knew?”
She cried immediately.
Not dramatically this time.
Real tears.
“I knew he was having trouble.”
“That wasn't my question.”
She looked down.
“I knew Austin needed a substantial amount.”
“How much?”
“He didn't tell me exactly.”
“But you knew he wanted money from my trust.”
She didn't answer.
That was enough.
I looked at all of them.
Then at the table where my father used to sit.
For years, I'd believed my mother simply favored Austin.
Now I understood something worse.
She had built an entire moral system around protecting him from consequences.
If Austin needed something, someone else should sacrifice.
Usually me.
When we were children, it was smaller things.
Give him the larger bedroom.
He has friends over more often.
Let him use the car.
His activities are important.
Don't upset him.
You're older.
You're stronger.
You can handle it.
Apparently adulthood had only increased the price.
Austin stepped toward me.
“You have more money than you'll ever need.”
I laughed once.
Not because it was funny.
“You still don't understand.”
“What?”
“This isn't about whether I need it.”
He stared.
“Dad decided what belonged to me.”
“Dad wasn't my biological father.”
There was venom behind the words.
I stared at him.
“No.”
He pointed toward the financial records.
“So maybe he never really considered me family.”
Charles stood abruptly.
“That's enough.”
Austin turned.
“You stay out of this.”
“No.”
Charles rarely sounded angry.
Now he did.
“Richard paid for your university education.”
Austin said nothing.
“He guaranteed the loan on your first business.”
Silence.
“He gave you $180,000 after that business failed.”
My mother looked at Austin.
I hadn't known that.
Charles continued.
“He paid your medical bills after your accident at twenty-six. He invested in Valecrest when no bank would. He introduced you to three investors.”
Austin's face reddened.
“And when he discovered you'd taken money without permission, what did he do?”
Nothing.
“He gave you sixty days to correct it privately.”
I looked at Charles.
“What?”
Charles nodded.
“Richard confronted Austin.”
Austin's expression changed.
My mother whispered, “When?”
“Six weeks before Richard entered hospice.”
I looked at my brother.
“You saw Dad?”
Austin looked away.
“You told me you barely visited.”
He said nothing.
Charles continued.
“Richard told him that if the money was restored, he would keep the matter private.”
My stomach twisted.
Even then, Dad had given him a way out.
“What happened?”
Daniel answered.
“Only a fraction was restored.”
Austin slammed his hand against the table.
“Because I didn't have time!”
I didn't flinch.
“You had money for the new car.”
“Don't.”
“The Cabo trip.”
“Laura.”
“The charity gala where you donated fifty thousand dollars.”
“That was company branding.”
I stared at him.
“You donated money publicly while privately taking Dad's.”
Austin stepped closer.
Rebecca stood between us.
He laughed bitterly.
“You think you're so superior.”
“No.”
“Yes, you do.”
His face twisted.
“Colonel Prescott. Classified briefings. Everybody salutes.”
I stayed calm.
“You asked what I needed millions for earlier.”
“So?”
“I never answered.”
Austin spread his arms.
“Go ahead.”
“I don't need to justify Dad's decision.”
He stared at me.
“That's your answer?”
“Yes.”
My mother suddenly shouted.
“Enough!”
Everyone turned.
She was crying.
“This family has already lost Richard.”
She pressed a hand against her chest.
“We are not going to lose each other over money.”
I looked at her.
“You invited five lawyers to force me to give away money.”
“That was before I knew everything.”
“No.”
My voice was quieter.
“You knew enough.”
She flinched.
“I thought we could solve it.”
“By sacrificing me.”
“By helping your brother!”
“There it is.”
“What?”
“You think those are the same thing.”
Her face collapsed.
I picked up my father's letter.
Rebecca gathered our files.
Charles closed the document case.
Cole approached my mother.
“I strongly recommend that no one sign anything tonight.”
The attorney who'd threatened years of litigation forty minutes earlier was now recommending caution.
Interesting.
I started toward the door.
Austin spoke behind me.
“You're really going to leave?”
I stopped.
“What would you like me to do?”
“Help.”
I turned.
For just one second, he wasn't arrogant.
He was terrified.
That almost made it worse.
“How bad is it?”
His eyes moved toward Daniel.
Then Gregory.
Finally me.
“If I can't secure financing in thirty days, everything collapses.”
My mother covered her mouth.
“Everything?”
Austin nodded.
“My company.”
His voice dropped.
“The house.”
“What house?”
“Mine.”
Mom looked stunned.
“You told me it was paid off.”
“I refinanced.”
Her face went blank.
I asked, “What else?”
Austin didn't answer.
Daniel did.
“There are personal guarantees.”
My mother whispered, “How much?”
Daniel looked at me before responding.
“Potentially several million.”
Evelyn sat down.
I watched my brother.
Suddenly the five lawyers made sense.
He wasn't negotiating.
He was drowning.
And he had decided my inheritance would be the life raft.
I reached the front door.
Then Rebecca's phone vibrated.
She looked down.
Her expression changed.
“Laura.”
I stopped.
“What?”
She stared at the screen.
“Don't leave yet.”
“Why?”
“I just received something from my office.”
She turned the phone toward me.
It showed a scanned financial document.
My name appeared at the bottom.
Laura Marie Prescott.
Beneath it was a signature.
My signature.
May you like
Except I had never signed it.
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