Chapter 5: The Version She Planned to Tell
Genevieve came downstairs at eleven-fifteen with one suitcase and her handbag and the particular composure of someone who had rehearsed this moment.
Thomas was still on the phone in the hallway.
She glanced at him once and looked away.
'I'm leaving,' she said to me.
'Since that's clearly what you want.'
'We need to discuss the documents first.'
'There's nothing to discuss.
They were drafts.
My attorney prepared them speculatively.
I never intended to present them without your knowledge.' She set her handbag on the chair.
'If you want to make something criminal out of a speculative estate document, go ahead.
It will be very embarrassing for you when nothing comes of it.'
'Your attorney is Marcus Hale,' I said.
'Who you claim to have met through a mutual friend, at a time you can't remember, but who also worked for my company three years ago under circumstances that ended badly.'
'That's a coincidence.'
'Is it?'
'Yes.' She met my eyes without flinching.
'Dorian, I understand you're upset.
What you heard this morning was ugly.
I won't pretend otherwise.
But what you're suggesting — that I've been planning something against you — that's not who I am.'
Thomas came back into the room.
He looked at Genevieve, then at me.
'I need five minutes,' he said to her.
'Before you leave.'
'I don't have to speak to you,' Genevieve said pleasantly.
'No,' Thomas agreed.
'You don't.
But I'd encourage you to hear what I'm about to say, because it will save us all a significant amount of time.'
She looked at him for a long moment.
Then she sat down.
Thomas placed two documents on the table.
'The transfer deed in the folder uses a signature that doesn't match any verified sample from my client on file.
That's document fraud.
The guardian override clause in the trust amendment was inserted without the knowledge or consent of the trust's creator.
That's a separate issue entirely.' He paused.
'What I'd like to understand is whether Marcus Hale prepared these documents on your instruction, or whether you were unaware of their content.'
'I was aware of the general content,' Genevieve said.
'I was not aware of every clause.'
'So you instructed him to prepare a property transfer and a trust amendment.'
'As part of estate planning.
Yes.'
'Without telling your fiancé.'
'I was going to tell him.'
'When?'
'After the wedding.'
Thomas wrote something down.
'And the signature on the transfer deed?'
A pause.
The first real one.
'Marcus must have used a template.'
'A template with your fiancé's specific signature.'
'I don't know how he prepared it.
I'm not an attorney.'
'No,' Thomas said.
'But you are the person who instructed him.' He capped his pen.
'I'll be contacting Mr.
Hale's office this afternoon.
I'd suggest you do the same before I do.'
Genevieve stood up.
The composure was still there, but it was working harder now.
'Are you finished?'
'One more thing.' Thomas slid a third document across the table.
'This is a formal notice that you are not to contact my client, his children, or any member of his household staff.
It also requests the return of any copies of estate documents currently in your possession or your attorney's possession.'
She looked at the document without touching it.
'You'll be hearing from my attorney.'
'I expect so,' Thomas said.
She picked up her suitcase and her handbag.
At the door she stopped and turned back to me — not to Thomas, to me.
'You think you know what this was,' she said.
'You don't.'
Then she walked out.
The door closed behind her.
Not slammed.
Closed.
Controlled, to the end.
Thomas looked at me.
'She's going to call Hale in the next ten minutes.
After that, documents may start disappearing.'
'Can we stop that?'
'I've already filed a preservation request with the court.
May you like
It went through twenty minutes ago.' He picked up his briefcase.
'She doesn't know that yet.'
