Chapter 3 - THE MAN NAMED ADRIAN
Michael called me at 7:15 the next morning.
“I found Adrian Shaw.”
“Who is he?”
“An investment consultant. He has been involved in several companies that were dissolved after financial investigations. He has also been named in two civil fraud cases.”
“Is he Vanessa's boyfriend?”
“I can't prove that. But they have shared an address before.”
My stomach turned.
“Before she met me?”
“According to the records, yes. They were listed as co-owners of a property in Dayton. The property was sold eighteen months ago.”
“Why would she tell him about my trust?”
“Because he may be the person helping her move the money.”
Michael emailed me a photograph.
Adrian was in his early forties, with close-cropped dark hair and a narrow face. He wore an expensive gray suit and stood beside Vanessa outside a restaurant.
The photograph was dated six months earlier.
I recognized the restaurant.
It was the same place where Vanessa had told me she was meeting a former colleague.
I stared at the image until my phone dimmed.
“There's something else,” Michael said.
“What?”
“Adrian's company recently applied for a large business loan using a life insurance policy as collateral. The application was denied because the policy wasn't active.”
“Whose policy?”
“Yours.”
I felt a cold pressure spread across my chest.
Vanessa had asked me to increase my life insurance coverage after we announced the engagement. She said it was responsible planning because we were about to become a family of four.
I had agreed.
The policy was now worth nearly two million dollars.
“Can someone borrow against it without my consent?”
“Not legally. But someone could try to use forged authorization documents.”
I stood and walked to the window.
“Friday at five,” I said.
Michael was silent.
“That's what the recording said. Friday at five.”
“Then we need to know what happens at that time.”
I returned home that afternoon and found Vanessa arranging flowers in the dining room.
She wore a pale blue dress and looked as if she had never lied in her life.
“Michael called,” she said.
My heart jumped.
“What did he want?”
“Nothing important. He said he needed one more signature after the wedding.”
I forced a smile.
“Which signature?”
“Something about the trust. He said it could wait.”
I watched her carefully.
“Have you met Adrian Shaw?”
The flower stems slipped slightly in her hands.
Only for a second.
“Why?”
“His name came up in a business email.”
Vanessa placed the flowers in a vase.
“I don't know anyone by that name.”
The lie was immediate.
I nodded as if I believed her.
“Must have been someone else.”
She came over and kissed my cheek.
“You've been tense lately. Are you sure you're ready for this wedding?”
I looked at her.
“More than anything.”
She smiled.
“Good.”
That night, I searched through the old family files in my study. I wanted to understand why Vanessa had chosen me, and why she had been so interested in Nora's inheritance.
I found an old letter from my father's attorney explaining the terms of the trust.
Rachel had been named Nora's primary guardian if anything happened to me. After Rachel died, the court appointed me as the sole parent and guardian.
But the trust contained a special provision.
If I remarried and later became incapacitated, the person named as Nora's temporary guardian could receive limited authority over the trust until a court reviewed the situation.
I had never completed that designation.
The form Vanessa wanted me to sign would name her.
I called Michael.
“Can Vanessa take control of Nora's trust if I sign this?”
“Not automatically. But the document gives her the power to petition for control, and it creates a paper trail suggesting you intended her to manage the estate.”
“What if I die?”
“Then she could become the primary beneficiary of your insurance and seek guardianship over Nora. The court would still have to approve it, but the paperwork would make her position much stronger.”
I looked at the family photograph on my desk.
Rachel was holding a newborn Nora. Her smile was tired and beautiful.
I had promised Rachel that I would protect our daughter.
Now I was preparing to marry someone who might be planning to take everything that belonged to her.
I called Claire.
“Keep Nora at your house until I tell you otherwise.”
“Ethan, what's happening?”
“I'll explain soon. Just don't let anyone pick her up.”
May you like
“Not even Vanessa?”
“Especially not Vanessa.”
