Chapter 2: The Name Victor Hale Was About to Say
Part 2 ⬇️
Marcus smiled when I walked in.
Victor Hale stood by the fireplace with a glass of wine, relaxed, like a man who had already won.
"Naomi." Marcus pulled out a chair.
"Glad you came."
I sat down.
I didn't touch the food.
"I need you to sign something tonight," Marcus said.
He slid a document across the table.
"It's a formality.
Transfers your remaining interest to a holding company.
Cleaner for taxes."
I looked at the paper.
Then I looked at him.
"You mean the interest Dad left me in his real trust," I said.
"Before someone changed it."
The smile didn't leave his face right away.
It faded slowly, like a light being turned down.
Victor set his glass down.
"Naomi—" Marcus started.
I placed Gerald's letter on the table.
Then the original trust.
Then the forensic comparison my paralegal had rushed to me that morning — two signatures side by side, with the differences circled in red.
The room went very quiet.
Then Victor spoke.
Not to me.
To Marcus.
"You told me she would never find out."
Marcus pushed back from the table.
"Victor, don't—"
"You told me the notary was handled."
That's when I realized something I hadn't expected.
Marcus hadn't acted alone.
And Victor Hale was about to say a name that would change everything.
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What Naomi heard next exposed a secret that went back years before her father even got sick.
Click the link below to read the full story — the truth is worse than anyone at that table was ready for.
