Chapter 4 - SOPHIE'S NAME IN THE TRUST
Brandon ended the call.
I stared at him.
“What did she mean?”
“Nothing.”
“Wrong answer.”
“Alyssa.”
“What did she mean about Sophie?”
Claire remained several feet away.
Her father stood beside her.
No one had left.
Whatever business arrangement had brought the Harringtons here was suddenly less important than the scandal unfolding in front of them.
Brandon lowered his voice.
“It was estate planning.”
“Whose estate?”
“Mine.”
My throat tightened.
“You created a trust excluding Sophie?”
“No.”
“That is what Tessa said.”
“She misunderstood.”
“When did Tessa start attending meetings about our daughter’s inheritance?”
He did not answer.
I called Dominic.
He picked up immediately.
“What did you find?”
“Brandon established a family trust fourteen months ago.”
“Beneficiaries?”
“Evan Harrington.”
I looked at Claire’s son.
“And?”
“Any future biological children born within a recognized marriage between Brandon Hale and Claire Harrington.”
I closed my eyes.
“What about Sophie?”
“Not listed.”
My voice turned cold.
“Anything else?”
“A clause identifying you as a former domestic partner with no continuing marital claim.”
My eyes opened.
“Former?”
“Yes.”
“That’s fraudulent.”
“I know.”
Brandon stepped closer.
“I can explain.”
I held up one hand.
“No.”
Dominic continued.
“There’s also a marriage license involving Brandon and Claire.”
Claire shouted.
“What?”
Her father turned toward her.
“You said you weren’t married yet.”
“We aren’t.”
Dominic spoke.
“The license was issued, but the marriage certificate appears unsigned.”
I looked at Brandon.
“So not married.”
“Correct.”
“But prepared.”
“Yes.”
“And the second license?”
A pause.
Dominic’s voice became colder.
“Tessa Monroe.”
The ballroom erupted.
Claire stared at Tessa’s empty place.
Brandon looked as if he had been hit.
I almost admired the scale of his stupidity.
Claire laughed once.
“You filed paperwork with both of us?”
Brandon shook his head.
“No.”
“Then why does she have a license?”
“She handled documents.”
“Did you sleep with her?”
Silence.
Claire stepped closer.
“Did you?”
Brandon looked away.
Claire slapped him.
Unlike Tessa’s slap earlier, this one drew applause from somewhere in the back.
Victor Harrington turned toward me.
“Mrs. Hale.”
“Alyssa.”
He nodded.
“Alyssa.”
“My family will have nothing more to do with this man.”
Brandon spun around.
“Victor.”
“Our agreement is over.”
“You can’t.”
“I can.”
“The merger vote is tomorrow.”
“Not anymore.”
Brandon’s face tightened.
That caught my attention.
“What merger?”
No one answered immediately.
Victor looked at me.
“He told us Harrington Aerospace would merge with Harrington Dynamics.”
I frowned.
“Harrington Dynamics?”
Brandon’s company was Hale Strategic Systems.
Then I understood.
The gala branding.
The debt.
The Harrington name everywhere.
“You planned to rename the company?”
Victor shook his head.
“No.”
“Brandon said the new combined company would become Harrington-Hale Global.”
Brandon looked furious.
I stared at him.
“And what happened to my shares?”
He went still.
I technically owned twelve percent of Hale Strategic Systems.
A wedding anniversary gift Brandon had insisted on giving me years earlier.
I had never exercised voting power.
Dominic’s voice came through my phone.
“We found that too.”
“What?”
“Alyssa, someone filed documents claiming you transferred your shares.”
My skin turned cold.
“To whom?”
“Brandon.”
I looked directly at my husband.
“I never signed a transfer.”
His silence told me someone had forged my name.
May you like
And suddenly the gala was no longer just evidence of infidelity.
It was evidence of a corporate theft.
