Chapter 12 - The Folder With Jennifer’s Name
Police found no sign of forced entry.
Someone had used a key.
That narrowed the possibilities.
Daniel.
Patricia.
Robert.
Possibly an employee.
Daniel insisted he had not been there.
Jennifer no longer trusted his insistence about anything.
The folder bearing her name had apparently contained copies of her tax returns, employment records, insurance information, and financial statements.
Documents Daniel could have accessed during their marriage.
But there was one item he claimed he had never seen.
A private report estimating Jennifer’s future inheritance from her grandmother.
Jennifer stared at him during a court-ordered deposition.
“How did Westbridge have that?”
Daniel looked genuinely confused.
“I don’t know.”
Rachel interrupted.
“Who maintained the files at the condo?”
“My mother sometimes did.”
Jennifer’s eyes moved to him.
“Patricia had files on my inheritance?”
“I said I don’t know.”
Daniel looked exhausted.
His arrogance was fading under legal pressure.
That did not make him safer.
It made him less predictable.
A week later, forensic accountants uncovered the reason Jennifer’s inheritance mattered.
Three years earlier, Patricia had prepared a financial projection.
It listed Jennifer as an expected beneficiary of approximately $1.8 million.
The document described the potential inheritance as “future household liquidity.”
Jennifer felt physically ill.
She and Daniel had been married less than one year when Patricia created it.
Rachel spoke quietly.
“They were counting money you did not even have.”
Jennifer looked at the projection.
“It wasn’t theirs.”
“I know.”
The document also contained another line.
POTENTIAL CAPITAL EVENT AFTER GRANDFATHER TRUST MATURITY.
Jennifer’s grandmother was alive.
Her grandfather had died years earlier.
The trust would mature when Jennifer turned thirty-five.
Daniel knew that.
Jennifer had told him early in their marriage.
Suddenly several past conversations made sense.
Daniel had discouraged her from signing a new prenuptial amendment.
He had pushed for joint investment accounts.
He had repeatedly asked when her grandfather’s trust became accessible.
At the time, she thought he was planning their future.
Now she understood.
He had been planning around her money.
The next court hearing brought another shock.
Daniel’s attorney requested temporary access to several joint accounts.
Rachel opposed it.
During argument, the judge asked why Daniel needed such a large amount.
His lawyer answered.
“Mr. Carter is facing substantial personal obligations.”
Rachel asked for clarification.
The attorney hesitated.
Then disclosed that Daniel owed $420,000 to a private lender.
Jennifer stared at Daniel.
She had never heard of the loan.
Neither had Robert.
The lender’s identity was sealed.
Until Marcus obtained the document.
The name on the agreement was not a bank.
It was Emily Ross.
May you like
Jennifer’s former unknown predecessor.
And according to the contract, Daniel had borrowed nearly half a million dollars from the woman he had once paid to remain silent.
