Chapter 6 - DIANE’S VERSION OF GEORGE
Diane agreed to deposition.
She wore pearls.
No emotion.
Naomi asked:
“Why did you throw away Ella’s medals?”
“She overstates everything.”
“I did not ask about Sarah.”
Diane corrected herself.
“I did not throw them away.”
“Karen did.”
“Yes.”
“Did you object?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Tyler was embarrassed.”
“By a five-year-old’s field-day medals?”
“By comparison.”
“Who compared them?”
Silence.
“Did Ella?”
“No.”
“Did Sarah?”
“No.”
“Did Ben?”
“No.”
“Did you?”
Diane looked irritated.
“Every family compares children.”
There.
Not true.
Common.
Still damaging.
Then property.
“Did George divide Westbridge equally?”
“Essentially.”
“What does essentially mean?”
“It means his intent was family balance.”
“Was Ben’s signature copied onto the mortgage amendment?”
“I don’t know.”
“Did you give family administration access to his signature file?”
“Yes.”
“Did you authorize insertion?”
“I authorized completion.”
“Did Ben approve that amendment?”
“He approved preserving Westbridge.”
Not an answer.
“Did he approve that amendment?”
“No.”
Ben closed his eyes.
Diane continued:
“But under the operating agreement his signature was unnecessary.”
“Then why insert it?”
“Bank preference.”
“Did the bank believe it was genuine?”
“I assume.”
A serious problem.
Then Merritt Property Services.
Diane defended the payments.
“Karen performs work.”
“How was compensation set?”
“I set it.”
“Independent review?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Family company.”
That phrase again.
Then:
“Why does the St. Matthew letter say Karen will own the Westbridge townhouse after Tyler turns fourteen?”
Diane’s face changed slightly.
“Because that is what George intended.”
“Where is that written?”
“The schedule.”
“And what happens to Ben’s branch?”
“Nothing.”
“Does Ella have a descendant milestone?”
Diane stopped.
There.
Naomi waited.
“Mrs. Mitchell?”
“I don’t remember.”
“You remember Tyler’s.”
“He is older.”
“That was not my question.”
Diane’s attorney ended the deposition for the day.
Too late.
Ella existed somewhere in the schedule.
Diane knew.
That evening Ben found an old voicemail from his father.
George:
Ben, remind me after Ella’s first birthday—we need to update the Westbridge children’s certificates. Your mother hates this paperwork.
Ella’s first birthday.
Four years ago.
George died three months later.
Did he update them?
Unknown.
But he had thought Ella relevant.
Diane had spent years behaving as though Tyler alone triggered succession.
Then Ben remembered something.
At George’s funeral, Diane asked us for Ella’s birth certificate.
“I thought it was for insurance.”
“Did you give it?”
“Yes.”
“What happened after?”
“Nothing.”
Naomi requested Westbridge’s family-administration file.
There was a birth certificate.
Ella Mitchell.
Stapled behind a document titled:
DESCENDANT ELIGIBILITY — PENDING.
No reason filled in.
Pending for four years.
Why?
The answer was still missing.
May you like
At the bottom, handwritten in Diane’s ink:
DO NOT ACTIVATE UNTIL TYLER MILESTONE.
