Chapter 7: Ten Minutes to Lose Everything
Marcus drove through the city as if every red light were a personal insult.
His phone lay on the passenger seat, the photograph still glowing on its screen. His mother sat at her desk, her hands folded in front of her. Richard Hale stood beside her with a leather briefcase. Vanessa leaned over the paperwork, a pen poised above the signature line.
Ten minutes.
That was all the stranger had given her.
Marcus called Evelyn again.
This time, someone answered immediately.
“Mr. Carter,” Richard said calmly, “I'm glad you've decided to join us.””
“Get away from my mother.””
“I beg your pardon?””
“You heard me. Don't touch her. Don't ask her to sign anything. I'll be there in five minutes.””
Richard chuckled.
“Your mother is perfectly capable of making her own decisions.””
“Then why are you threatening her?””
“I'm offering her an opportunity to resolve a complicated property matter.””
Marcus tightened his grip on the steering wheel.
“An opportunity? You sent me a photograph with a ten-minute deadline.””
“That was a misunderstanding.””
“Put my mother on the phone.””
A brief silence followed.
Then Evelyn's voice came through.
“Marcus, I'm all right.””
“Mom, listen to me. Don't sign anything.””
“I wasn't planning to.””
Vanessa's voice cut in sharply.
“You don't have to listen to him, Evelyn. He doesn't understand the agreement.””
“I understand enough to know that I will not sign a document I haven't reviewed with my attorney,” Evelyn replied.
Marcus had never heard his mother sound so firm.
Richard cleared his throat.
“Mrs. Carter, we have already explained that the proposed transfer would protect the property from future financial complications.””
“Then you shouldn't object to giving my attorney time to examine it.””
“The offer expires today.””
“Then it expires.””
Marcus heard the scrape of a chair.
Then Vanessa snapped, “You can't just throw away an opportunity worth millions!””
Evelyn answered without hesitation.
“It's my property to protect, Vanessa. Not yours to sell.””
The call ended.
Marcus accelerated through the next intersection as soon as the light turned green.
When he arrived at the mansion, the front door was open.
He rushed inside.
Richard stood in the living room, calmly closing his briefcase. Vanessa was beside the fireplace, her arms crossed. Evelyn remained seated at the dining table, the unsigned agreement in front of her.
“Mom!””
Marcus crossed the room and knelt beside her.
“Are you okay?””
She nodded.
“I'm fine, sweetheart.””
He looked at Richard.
“Leave.””
Richard's expression remained polite.
“Mr. Carter, this is a business matter. Your mother invited us to discuss—”
“I said leave.””
Vanessa stepped forward.
“Marcus, don't embarrass yourself. Richard is here because he understands how these things work.””
Marcus turned toward her.
“You told him I agreed to the transfer.””
“I told him you understood the proposal.””
“I never saw it until today.””
“Because you never pay attention to anything involving your own finances!””
He stared at her.
“So you forged my signature, registered a company in my name, and tried to transfer the estate without telling me?””
Vanessa's face hardened.
“You don't know what you're talking about.””
Marcus took the agreement from the table.
The first page described the proposed transfer of the property to Northbridge Estate Acquisitions. The second contained a financial authorization. The third was a signature page bearing his name.
He examined the signature.
It looked almost perfect.
Almost.
The final stroke of his surname curved in the wrong direction.
He remembered the forged company registration and the email Olivia had shown him. Someone had spent considerable time studying his handwriting.
He placed the document back on the table.
“Who prepared this?””
Richard closed his briefcase.
“My client prefers to keep certain commercial arrangements confidential.””
“Your client?””
Richard glanced at Vanessa.
The movement lasted less than a second.
But Marcus saw it.
“Vanessa is your client?””
Richard said nothing.
Marcus pulled out his phone.
“I'm calling the police.””
Vanessa laughed.
“Go ahead. Tell them your wife tried to sell a house she doesn't own. See how that works out for you.””
Evelyn rose slowly from her chair.
“Vanessa, enough.””
“No!”” Vanessa shouted.
“I'm done being treated like a criminal in my own home!””
“You do not own this home,” Evelyn said.
Vanessa turned toward her with open contempt.
“And there it is. The truth finally comes out. You never considered me family. You just wanted me to spend my life bowing to you.””
“I wanted you to treat people honestly.””
“Honesty doesn't pay bills!””
Marcus stared at her.
“You took eighty-four thousand dollars from my mother.””
“And she can afford it!””
The room fell silent.
Vanessa seemed to realize what she had admitted.
Marcus's face changed.
“You really believe that makes it acceptable?””
“I was going to put it back!””
“When?””
She looked away.
“When things settled down.””
“After you transferred the house?””
Vanessa's silence answered him.
Richard moved toward the door.
“I believe this meeting has become unproductive.””
Marcus stepped into his path.
“You're not leaving with those documents.””
Richard tightened his grip on the briefcase.
“The documents belong to my company.””
“Then you won't mind explaining to the police why they contain a forged signature.””
Richard's expression finally changed.
He glanced toward Vanessa.
She gave him a tiny shake of her head.
Marcus saw it.
“Interesting,” he said.
“You two have a lot to discuss without me, don't you?””
Richard opened the briefcase again and removed the transfer agreement.
“Mr. Carter, perhaps we should arrange a meeting with your attorney.””
“We will.””
“Until then, I suggest you avoid making accusations you cannot substantiate.””
He placed the document on the table and walked toward the front door.
Before leaving, he turned toward Evelyn.
“Mrs. Carter, you should understand that refusing a commercial proposal does not make the underlying financial issues disappear.””
Evelyn met his gaze.
“Neither does threatening an elderly woman.””
Richard left.
The front door closed.
For several seconds, nobody spoke.
Then Vanessa grabbed her purse.
“I'm going to my sister's.””
Marcus stepped aside.
“Fine.””
She stared at him, apparently expecting him to stop her.
“That's it?””
“What do you want me to say?””
“You're supposed to fight for our marriage!””
Marcus looked at the unsigned agreement.
“I don't know what marriage I've been fighting for.””
Vanessa's eyes filled with tears.
“I love you.””
He almost believed her.
That was the worst part.
He remembered their wedding, the promises, the first home they had rented together. He remembered Vanessa bringing him coffee during long nights at work and holding his hand when his business nearly failed.
But he also remembered the slap.
His mother's face.
The ease with which Vanessa had watched him hurt the woman who raised him.
“Did you love me when you forged my signature?”” he asked.
She flinched.
“Did you love me when you told me my mother attacked you?””
“Marcus—”
“Did you love me when you stood there and watched me slap her?””
Vanessa's tears spilled over.
“I was angry! I wanted you to understand how I felt!””
“So you made me hurt my mother?””
“I didn't know you would slap her!””
The words hung in the room.
Marcus looked at her.
“You knew I was angry. You knew what you were telling me. You watched me lose control, and you didn't stop me.””
Vanessa pressed her hands over her mouth.
For the first time, she had no answer.
Evelyn quietly gathered the papers from the table.
“Marcus, let her go.””
He turned toward his mother.
“Mom—”
“Not because she deserves to escape the consequences. Because you need to make decisions with a clear mind.””
Vanessa looked at Evelyn with hatred.
“You'll regret this.””
Evelyn didn't respond.
Vanessa stormed through the front door, slamming it behind her.
Marcus stood in the silence she left behind.
Then his phone vibrated.
Olivia had sent another message.
I found the original incorporation application. The person who witnessed the signature wasn't Richard Hale.
A second message appeared.
It was someone who works in your house.
Marcus slowly looked toward the kitchen.
The housekeeper, Mrs. Lewis, had worked for the family for eleven years. She had known Marcus since he was a teenager. She had been present when his father became ill, when Evelyn moved in, and when Vanessa began making changes around the mansion.
Marcus called her name.
“Mrs. Lewis?””
No answer.
He walked toward the kitchen.
Her apron hung neatly on its usual hook. Her handbag was gone.
On the counter lay a folded note.
Marcus opened it.
I'm sorry. I tried to stop her.
Beneath the words was a phone number.
And a final sentence.
If you want to know who really planned this, ask what happened the night your father died.
Marcus stopped breathing.
His father had died four years earlier after a sudden medical emergency.
Vanessa had always insisted that Evelyn had been too emotional to understand what happened that night.
May you like
But Mrs. Lewis had been there.
And apparently, she had been keeping a secret.
