Chapter 9: The Trust
The legal document established a private trust worth twenty-eight million dollars.
The beneficiary was Ethan Parker.
The trustee was Claire Bennett.
Claire read the page three times.
“This was signed when I was sixteen.”
The bank manager nodded.
“Your father arranged it before his death.”
“How can I be trustee if I never knew?”
“The trust became active only if Lily Parker died or disappeared under suspicious circumstances.”
Daniel looked toward the flash drive.
The manager refused to let them open it inside the bank.
“The system is monitored.”
“By Victoria?” Claire asked.
“By people who answer to her.”
He led them through an employee exit into an alley.
Before they separated, he handed Claire a business card.
“If anything happens to me, call the number written on the back.”
Daniel drove to a public library across town.
They chose a computer far from the security cameras.
The flash drive contained dozens of financial records.
Payments.
Shell companies.
Private medical reports.
There was also a video file labeled:
FOR DANIEL AND CLAIRE.
Lily appeared on-screen.
She was sitting inside a car.
A bruise darkened one side of her face.
“If you’re watching this,” she said, “something has happened to me.”
Daniel covered his mouth.
Lily looked directly into the camera.
“Victoria believes Ethan’s trust belongs to her. She has spent years trying to find the documents Thomas Bennett hid.”
Claire leaned closer.
Lily continued.
“Do not let her take Ethan. And do not believe the official story about his father.”
The video suddenly distorted.
For a moment, another person appeared in the reflection behind Lily.
A man wearing a silver watch.
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Then Lily said something that made Daniel stop the recording.
“Ethan’s biological father is alive.”
