Chapter 7 - The Missing Forty Million
Nathan Cole met me at the hotel that evening.
He arrived with his wife, Ellen, because after six months of rumors, he refused to meet me alone.
I appreciated the gesture more than he knew.
Lily slept upstairs with my sister.
I sat across from Nathan in the lobby lounge holding a copy of Richard’s trust.
He read it twice.
Then he removed his glasses.
“This is valid.”
“Mark said the same thing.”
“If Richard executed this properly, Lily’s interest began when she was born.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means Margaret never owned those shares.”
My stomach tightened.
“Then how could she sell them?”
Nathan looked at me.
“She couldn’t.”
“But Mark thinks she did.”
“Then we may be looking at fraud.”
Daniel arrived twenty minutes later.
I had not invited him.
Nathan looked at me.
I nodded reluctantly.
Daniel sat down.
“I checked the company records.”
His voice sounded exhausted.
“Mark was right.”
Nathan leaned forward.
“What happened?”
“Two years ago, twelve percent of Carter Development was pledged as collateral for a private loan.”
I stared at him.
“Lily’s twelve percent?”
“Yes.”
“How much?”
“Twenty-four million dollars.”
Nathan swore quietly.
Daniel continued.
“The loan is in default.”
My hands went cold.
“What happens if they collect?”
“They take the shares.”
“And Lily loses them?”
“Unless the transaction is invalidated.”
Nathan opened his laptop.
“It was never Margaret’s property to pledge.”
Daniel rubbed his eyes.
“She claimed the granddaughter clause had never activated.”
“Because of the fake paternity result,” I said.
Daniel looked at me.
“Yes.”
There it was.
The full reason.
Margaret did not merely want me gone.
She needed a legal excuse to declare Lily ineligible.
The false paternity report allowed her lawyers to claim Richard had died without a qualifying biological granddaughter.
Then she used Lily’s shares to cover her own financial disaster.
Nathan asked the question none of us wanted to hear.
“Where did the twenty-four million go?”
Daniel looked toward the dark hotel windows.
“I don’t know.”
“Find out.”
“I’m trying.”
My phone rang.
Mark.
I answered immediately.
“Emily.”
Something in his voice frightened me.
“What happened?”
“I found Dad’s old accounting drive.”
Nathan leaned closer.
Mark continued.
“There were payments I’ve never seen before.”
“To whom?”
“Shell companies.”
“How many?”
“At least eight.”
Daniel put the call on speaker.
Mark’s breathing was uneven.
“One of them paid the lab technician.”
Nathan looked at Daniel.
“That connects Margaret directly.”
Mark continued.
“But that’s not the worst part.”
My heart began pounding.
“What is?”
“One company has been receiving money every month for four years.”
“How much?”
“Fifty thousand.”
Nathan frowned.
“For what?”
Mark was silent.
Then he answered.
“I traced the owner.”
Daniel leaned forward.
“Who?”
Mark’s voice dropped.
“Dad’s cardiologist.”
Nobody moved.
May you like
Richard Carter had supposedly died of a sudden heart attack.
And Margaret had spent four years paying the man who signed his death certificate.
