Chapter 7 - THE ORIGINAL WILL
Michael stayed under police supervision.
For the first time in twelve years, my brother sat beside my hospital bed.
Neither of us knew what to say.
Finally, he whispered,
"I should have come back sooner."
I typed:
Why didn't you?
"Because I thought you were being watched."
I typed:
By whom?
He looked at Samuel.
"Thomas."
Samuel's expression hardened.
"How?"
Michael explained.
Thomas had been moving money through shell companies for years.
Small amounts at first.
Then larger ones.
He wasn't stealing from me directly.
He was building a hidden financial network around my companies.
Michael discovered it.
When he confronted Thomas, someone tried to kill him.
He disappeared before they could finish the job.
For twelve years, he investigated from the shadows.
Then he discovered David.
"Thomas introduced David to you?"
Michael nodded.
I felt sick.
"So it wasn't coincidence."
"No."
David had been chosen.
Samuel opened the flash drive.
"We need to see the documents."
The files contained years of records.
Emails.
Transfers.
Encrypted contracts.
Photographs.
And one document that made everyone stop.
An original copy of my first trust agreement.
Samuel read it carefully.
Then looked at me.
"Emma..."
I typed:
What?
"There is no inheritance clause."
I stared.
He continued.
"David couldn't inherit your patents."
Michael smiled.
"I told you."
Samuel shook his head.
"Someone altered the copy."
My eyes widened.
"The version in the corporate registry is different."
Carter asked,
"Which one is real?"
Samuel held up the original.
"This one."
Then he pointed to a signature.
Mine.
But underneath it was another signature.
Michael's.
And a third.
Thomas Reed.
Michael whispered,
"Thomas forged the amended version."
Carter asked,
"Why?"
Michael looked at me.
"Because he wanted David to believe Emma's death would transfer everything."
Samuel understood.
"He manipulated David."
Michael nodded.
"He convinced David that killing Emma would make him rich."
I stared at the ceiling.
For months, David had believed he was the mastermind.
He wasn't.
He was a pawn.
But then Samuel noticed something else.
"There are instructions here."
"What instructions?"
He read silently.
Then his face changed.
"Emma, your original trust contains a contingency."
I typed:
What contingency?
"If someone attempts to obtain control of your patents through fraud, the entire portfolio automatically transfers to a protected foundation."
I smiled.
David had spent months poisoning me for something he could never legally own.
Michael looked relieved.
But then Carter found another document.
A handwritten note.
It contained only one sentence.
Thomas was not the highest-ranking person.
Samuel looked up.
"Who was above him?"
Michael shook his head.
"I never found out."
Carter asked,
"Could it be David?"
"No."
"His mother?"
Michael hesitated.
"Maybe."
I stared at the name on the phone record.
David's mother.
The woman who had asked whether I was dead.
The woman who knew exactly when I was supposed to die.
Michael suddenly stood.
"We need to talk to her."
Carter nodded.
But before anyone could move, my computer activated.
A new message appeared.
YOU'RE LOOKING IN THE WRONG DIRECTION.
Samuel froze.
Another message appeared.
DAVID'S MOTHER IS NOT THE BOSS.
Then another.
SHE IS ONLY THE NEXT VICTIM.
Everyone stared at the screen.
Carter asked,
"Who is sending these?"
I didn't know.
Then the final message appeared.
LOOK AT YOUR WEDDING PHOTOGRAPH.
Samuel turned toward me.
"Why?"
I looked toward the bedside table.
My wedding photograph sat there.
I stared at it.
At David.
At myself.
At the guests standing behind us.
And then I saw something I had never noticed before.
A man in the background.
Half hidden behind a column.
Watching me.
Michael walked closer.
His face went completely white.
"I know him."
I typed:
Who?
May you like
Michael whispered:
"That's the man who tried to kill me."
