Chapter 6: The Signature That Wasn't Mine
Daniel immediately placed the call on speaker.
"Who submitted the request?"" he asked.
The voice on the other end belonged to a clerk at the county recorder's office.
"Denise Bennett. She submitted a deed package this morning. The paperwork claims to transfer the Willow Creek Road property into a family holding company.""
Daniel's expression hardened.
"Was the request accepted?""
"Not yet. The transfer is under review because the trust is still listed as the legal owner.""
"Good. Place an administrative hold on the submission. I'll send documentation establishing the beneficiary's rights.""
The clerk agreed.
Daniel ended the call.
I stared at him.
"Can my mother really transfer a house that belongs to me?""
"Not legally without the required authorization. But someone can still submit fraudulent paperwork. That's why we need to act quickly.""
Lorraine stood.
"How did she get the deed documents?""
Daniel opened the scanned package he'd received.
"Let's find out.""
He scrolled through the pages.
The first document was a proposed transfer deed.
The second was a certificate of trust.
The third was a notarized authorization bearing my name.
I leaned closer.
Then my blood turned cold.
"That's my signature.""
Daniel looked at me.
"Is it?""
"No.""
He enlarged the document.
The signature looked almost identical to mine.
The same long curve in the Z.
The same small loop beneath the final letter.
But there was one detail that was wrong.
I always wrote my middle initial between my first and last names.
Zarya M. Bennett.
This document simply said Zarya Bennett.
"That's not how I sign legal documents," I said.
Daniel printed the page.
"Good. Don't touch the original submission. We'll preserve this copy and obtain the official record.""
Tessa looked sick.
"Someone forged her signature?""
"That's what it appears to be," Daniel replied.
"We'll need a handwriting review and confirmation from the notary.""
I stared at the page.
My mother had used my name to cancel my scholarship.
She'd changed my housing records.
She'd redirected university correspondence.
And now she'd submitted a document pretending I had agreed to transfer my grandmother's property.
I couldn't understand how one person could look at her own daughter and do all that.
Daniel picked up his phone.
"I'm contacting the trust administrator and the county attorney's office. I also recommend making a formal report about the unauthorized university access and suspected document forgery.""
I nodded.
"Do whatever you need to do.""
Lorraine squeezed my shoulder.
"We'll handle this one step at a time.""
But the next step came sooner than any of us expected.
My phone buzzed.
A message from Marcus.
*Marcus:* You need to stop listening to Daniel. He's making you think you own things you don't understand.
Another message followed.
*Marcus:* Come home. Bring the original documents.
I didn't respond.
Then he sent a photograph.
It showed the blue envelope lying on my mother's kitchen counter.
The envelope was open.
The documents were spread across the table.
And one page had been marked with a yellow sticky note.
*PROPERTY TRANSFER AUTHORIZATION.*
I zoomed in.
At the bottom of the page was a signature.
My grandmother's.
But there was something strange about it.
The date.
The document appeared to have been signed six months before her death.
"Daniel," I said, turning my phone toward him.
"Look at this.""
He studied the photograph.
His expression changed.
"Where did you get this?""
"Marcus sent it.""
Daniel enlarged the image.
Then he slowly removed his glasses.
"Zarya, this document shouldn't exist.""
"Why?""
"Because your grandmother revoked every previous authorization concerning the property when she established the trust.""
"Could someone still use it?""
"Not legitimately. But if they're trying to pass it off as a valid document, we need to know exactly what they submitted.""
He asked me to forward the photograph.
I did.
Within minutes, he had identified another problem.
The document contained a notary stamp.
A stamp belonging to a woman named Patricia Collins.
Daniel recognized the name.
"She retired four years ago.""
I stared at him.
"Four years?""
He nodded.
"That stamp should not have been used on a document dated six months before Eleanor's death.""
Lorraine covered her mouth.
"Are you saying the document was forged?""
"I'm saying the stamp and the date are inconsistent with the official records. We'll need confirmation.""
Daniel called the notary registry.
While he waited, I stepped into the hallway.
I needed air.
My phone rang again.
This time, it was Kaylee.
"Zarya?""
"Hey, sweetheart. Are you okay?""
She was crying.
"Mom and Marcus are fighting.""
I closed my eyes.
"What happened?""
"Marcus says Mom ruined everything. Mom says he told her to do it.""
My stomach tightened.
"Did they say anything else?""
"I heard Marcus say the money was supposed to be his.""
"What money?""
"The money Grandma left you.""
I gripped the phone.
"Kaylee, where's Mia?""
"She's in her room.""
"Can you stay with her?""
"Yes.""
"Please don't get involved in their argument.""
"But Zarya, Mom is scared.""
I looked down at the floor.
For a moment, I wanted to go home.
Not because I missed my bedroom.
Not because I wanted to surrender.
But because my sisters were trapped in the middle of something they didn't understand.
"I know," I whispered.
"But I'm not coming back into that house to fix something I didn't break.""
Kaylee sniffled.
"Are you still going to college?""
I swallowed.
"Yes. I'm still going.""
"Good.""
She hesitated.
"Zarya?""
"Yeah?""
"Marcus said something about a video.""
My heart skipped.
"What video?""
"He said if you didn't cooperate, he'd show everyone what you did to Grandma.""
I went cold.
"What does that mean?""
"I don't know. Mom told him to stop talking.""
"Did you hear where the video was?""
"No. He said it was on his computer.""
I closed my eyes.
"Thank you for telling me. Don't mention this conversation to them.""
"Okay.""
After the call, I returned to Daniel's office.
He was standing by his desk, speaking into his phone.
"Yes, I understand. Please send the confirmation in writing.""
He hung up.
"The notary registry has confirmed that Patricia Collins stopped practicing four years ago. The stamp used on the document is not registered as active.""
I sat down.
"So the authorization is fake.""
"At minimum, the document contains a fraudulent notarial representation. We're preserving it for the investigation.""
Lorraine looked at him.
"What about the video Kaylee mentioned?""
I repeated what my sister had told me.
Daniel frowned.
"Do you know what the video supposedly contains?""
"No.""
"Then don't speculate. But preserve the message from Marcus and any threats he makes.""
He turned toward me.
"Zarya, I want to ask you something about your grandmother's final months.""
I nodded.
"Did she ever tell you she was worried about Denise or Marcus?""
I thought about it.
Then I remembered a night shortly before Grandma died.
I'd been sitting beside her bed, helping her drink water.
She'd asked whether my mother was still letting Marcus handle the family finances.
I'd said yes.
Grandma had looked toward the window.
"Some people become very comfortable spending money that doesn't belong to them," she'd whispered.
I'd laughed awkwardly, thinking she was talking about something ordinary.
Then she'd taken my hand.
"If anyone ever tells you that you owe them silence because they're family, remember that silence can be very expensive.""
I told Daniel.
He listened carefully.
"Did she mention any recording?""
I shook my head.
"No.""
Daniel returned to his desk.
"I'd like to examine the original estate file. There may be a statement explaining why she changed the trust arrangements.""
He opened a drawer and removed a sealed packet.
"Your grandmother deposited this with me shortly before her death. She asked me to keep it separate from the regular trust documents.""
I stared at the packet.
"What's inside?""
"I haven't opened it. Her instructions were that it be given to you if someone challenged the validity of the trust or attempted to transfer the property without your authorization.""
My heart began pounding.
Daniel placed the packet in front of me.
My name was written across the front.
ZARYA BENNETT.
In my grandmother's handwriting.
I carefully broke the seal.
Inside was a small flash drive and a handwritten note.
The note contained only two sentences.
If Denise or Marcus ever tries to take what I left you, watch this before you believe anything they say.
The truth is not what they told you about the night I fell.
I stared at the words.
My grandmother had died after a fall in her bedroom.
My mother had always said she'd slipped while getting out of bed.
There had been no accident report beyond the routine hospital paperwork.
No police investigation.
No questions.
I'd been sixteen.
I'd believed my mother because I hadn't known there was any reason not to.
Lorraine took the note from my trembling hands.
"Daniel, what does this mean?""
He looked at the flash drive.
"I don't know. But Eleanor clearly intended Zarya to see it if someone challenged her inheritance.""
I looked at the tiny device.
For three years, I'd believed my grandmother had simply died after an unfortunate accident.
Now someone had tried to take the property she'd left me.
Someone had forged my signature.
Someone had accessed my university account.
And my grandmother had apparently left behind evidence concerning the night she died.
Daniel inserted the flash drive into a separate computer.
A single video file appeared.
*ELEANOR_BENNETT_FINAL_RECORDING.mp4*
The date was three days before her death.
My grandmother's face appeared on the screen.
She looked tired, but her eyes were clear.
She leaned toward the camera.
"Zarya, sweetheart. If you're watching this, then something has happened that I was afraid of.""
She paused.
Then she looked directly into the lens.
"Your mother wasn't the only person who knew about my money. And Marcus wasn't the only one who wanted it.""
I felt Lorraine's hand close around mine.
Grandma continued.
"I need you to understand what happened that night. I didn't fall because I was careless.""
My breath stopped.
She looked toward someone outside the camera's view.
Then she whispered a name.
A name I had never expected to hear.
"Your Aunt Lorraine was there.""
The room went completely silent.
I slowly turned toward the woman sitting beside me.
Lorraine's face had gone white.
May you like
And before I could ask her a single question, she whispered:
"Zarya, I can explain.""
