Chapter 6 - ADRIAN’S PAYMENT
Adrian stared at the ledger.
The payment beside his name was for two hundred thousand dollars.
The description read.
CLAIRE BENNETT TERMINATION AGREEMENT.
He looked at his mother.
“I never received this.”
Margaret remained silent.
Agent Ruiz examined the bank code.
“The money went into an account opened under your identity.”
Adrian shook his head.
“I did not create it.”
Nicholas laughed from the hallway where police held him.
“You sign whatever Mother places in front of you.”
“You probably opened it years ago.”
Adrian turned on him.
“What does termination mean?”
Nicholas smiled.
“You tell us.”
Claire watched Adrian’s face.
He looked afraid.
But fear did not prove innocence.
Agent Ruiz separated everyone for questioning.
Evelyn was taken to the hospital.
Rosa went into emergency surgery.
Claire refused to leave until the greenhouse evidence was cataloged.
Arthur sat inside the library.
He seemed to age with every box carried past him.
Adrian remained in the dining room.
The broken plate still lay near the wall.
Agent Ruiz placed the ledger before him.
“Did you know your wife’s mother was alive?”
“No.”
“Did you know Claire held a potential ownership claim?”
“I knew her grandfather had once worked with my family.”
“That is not the same thing.”
“No.”
Adrian looked toward Claire.
“My mother said the claim had been settled.”
“Did she ask you to have Claire sign documents?”
“Yes.”
“What documents?”
“A postnuptial agreement.”
“A medical power of attorney.”
“And a transfer of future inheritance.”
Claire felt sick.
“You told me they were tax documents.”
Adrian closed his eyes.
“I know.”
“You lied.”
“Yes.”
Agent Ruiz continued.
“Did Margaret instruct you to frighten Claire tonight?”
“No.”
“Why did you throw the plate?”
Adrian looked at the blood on Claire’s cheek.
“Because she accused my mother of kidnapping Evelyn.”
“She was right.”
“I did not know that then.”
“You did not need to know that to avoid throwing a plate.”
He lowered his head.
“No.”
The answer was quiet.
It did not ask forgiveness.
That was the first honest thing Adrian had done.
Agent Ruiz asked about the payment account.
Adrian gave investigators access to his records.
The account had been opened five years earlier.
His digital signature appeared on the documents.
The address belonged to Margaret’s private attorney.
Funds had moved through it for years.
Adrian had never checked.
His carelessness had become a tool.
Then investigators found a recent withdrawal.
Fifty thousand dollars had been paid to a man named Samuel Price.
Claire recognized the name.
Samuel had been hired as her driver two weeks earlier.
He knew her schedule.
He knew when she visited Agent Ruiz.
He knew she planned to confront the family at dinner.
Agent Ruiz called his number.
The phone rang inside the mansion.
Everyone turned toward the sound.
It came from behind the wall where Adrian’s plate had shattered.
Officers removed the damaged panel.
May you like
A narrow passage appeared.
Inside, Samuel Price lay unconscious beside a bag containing rope, medication, and Claire’s passport.
