“Why didn’t you tell me?”
Dad looked down.
For several seconds, he seemed unable to find the right words.
“Because I thought I could handle it myself,” he finally said.
Harold leaned back in his chair.
“Edward has always been that way.”
Dad gave him a tired look.
“I didn’t want you worrying about something that might never become a problem.”
“But it did become a problem,” I said.
“Yes.”
His voice was quiet.
“A much bigger one than I expected.”
I looked at the folders spread across Harold’s desk.
“So what happened after you refused to sign those documents?”
Dad sighed.
“Vanessa left angry. She told me I would regret not letting her help.”
“And Richard Bell?”
“He left with her.”
Harold folded his hands.
“That was when Edward became suspicious.”
Dad nodded.
“I started keeping copies of everything.”
I looked at him.
“Everything?”
“Bank statements. Property records. Emails. Letters. Anything connected to my estate.”
He glanced at the black folder.
“That’s how I discovered the missing money.”
My stomach tightened again.
“And the documents from the garage?”
Dad shook his head.
“That is what worries me most.”
Harold opened the folder containing the documents the sheriff had mentioned.
The pages were photocopies of property records.
At first, they looked ordinary.
Then I noticed the signature.
My father’s name appeared at the bottom.
Edward Cole.
I looked at him.
“Is that your signature?”
“No.”
“But it looks like yours.”
Dad stared at the page.
“That’s what makes it frightening.”
What happened next changed everything… FULL STORY on the next page.
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