Chapter 13 - The Case Against Me
The evidence against me was beautiful.
Forged emails from my account. Payments from companies bearing my electronic signature. Travel records placing me near Mercer before Claire's crash. A psychiatric consultation I had never attended. Even a life insurance policy on Claire that had paid into a corporate account I controlled.
It looked complete because Adam had spent years building it.
The prosecutor denied bail overnight.
I sat in a holding cell while Claire and Lucas fought outside to prove I had been framed.
Vanessa became the unexpected crack in the case.
From her hospital bed, she gave police access to a hidden cloud account her mother had forced her to maintain. It contained instructions, payment schedules, and recordings of Martin ordering her to provoke Sophie.
One message made me physically sick.
MAKE THE CHILD AFRAID OF ETHAN'S ABSENCE. DOCUMENT THE OUTBURSTS. WE NEED A PATTERN.
Vanessa had done more than abuse my daughter.
She had manufactured evidence that Sophie was psychologically deteriorating in my care.
By morning, I was released pending investigation.
I didn't thank Vanessa.
Some help comes too late to become forgiveness.
When I walked outside, Claire was waiting.
Sophie ran into my arms.
I held her until my knees hurt.
"I thought they were taking you away," she whispered.
"I'm here."
"Promise?"
"Promise."
Claire watched us, tears on her face.
Then Lucas approached with a problem.
Adam Pierce had disappeared.
So had thirty-two million dollars from company reserve accounts.
"He moved it through six banks overnight," Lucas said. "But that's not the worst part."
He handed me a copy of an internal board resolution.
The directors had voted to remove me as CEO for "reputational risk and incapacity."
The replacement CEO was Adam.
"How can he be CEO if he's missing?"
"The board doesn't know he's missing."
Claire read the document and frowned.
"This vote needs the trust's shares."
Lucas nodded.
"It has them."
"That's impossible," Claire said. "Only the trustee can vote Sophie's stake."
"Who is the trustee?" I asked.
Claire looked at me.
Her face went blank.
"My mother appointed Martin."
A dead man's trick from a living lawyer.
Then Sophie's voice came from beside me.
"Mommy, I know where Mr. Martin hides his papers."
We all turned.
May you like
She pointed toward our house in the distance.
"He has a room under my bedroom."
