Chapter 4 - PROPERTY OF THE COMPANY
Andrew reported the envelope stolen.
He told city police that Westbridge Escrow mistakenly delivered a confidential corporate agreement to our marital address.
The accusation brought two detectives to the hotel.
Rachel met them before I did.
I provided the unopened envelope, courier receipt, and video of the delivery.
The label named me personally.
The detectives did not seize it immediately.
Andrew’s company sought a court order.
Westbridge submitted an affidavit saying the original depositor instructed delivery to Lauren Vance, not Vance Hospitality.
The depositor’s identity remained sealed under the escrow agreement.
Patricia’s attorneys argued the depositor lacked authority.
The judge ordered the envelope stored temporarily in Westbridge’s secure vault until ownership and privilege were determined.
I did not like surrendering it.
Keeping it in my handbag after a tracking attempt and attempted theft was worse.
The seal was photographed under court supervision.
Nothing inside was read.
Andrew believed the order was a victory.
He called me outside the courthouse.
“You no longer control it.”
“I never opened it.”
“Then you don’t know what you’re doing.”
“Neither do you, apparently.”
His jaw tightened.
“You think my mother humiliated Chloe because she is cruel.”
“She did it because she is cruel.”
“She also wanted you angry.”
I stopped.
He had admitted planning without realizing it.
“Why?”
“I didn’t say it was planned.”
“You said she wanted a result.”
“Patricia always wants a result.”
He used her first name when distancing himself from her.
“What result did you want?”
“I wanted the celebration completed.”
“What happened at midnight?”
Andrew looked toward Rachel.
“This is a marriage conversation.”
“You made it a police report.”
He left.
Westbridge provided one additional record.
The escrow package contained a sealed promissory instrument, security schedule, and beneficiary memorandum.
It had been deposited six years earlier.
Annual notices were sent to two addresses.
One was my late father’s law office.
The other was Vance Hospitality headquarters.
Patricia’s office received reminders every year.
I received none.
The delivery date had not surprised them.
Only my possession of the original did.
Rachel searched my father’s estate files.
His records were meticulous, but one cabinet had been transferred to storage after a pipe leak.
Inside a damaged folder she found correspondence with Martin Vance.
Most pages were unreadable.
One surviving line said:
Neither Andrew nor Patricia understands that the obligation cannot be satisfied by producing a male heir.
The language connected the note to the girls and Patricia’s insult.
It did not tell us how.
Then the court received a recorded release purporting to cancel the promissory obligation.
The release bore my signature.
It had been notarized the previous afternoon—while I was helping Luke? No Luke. While I was dressing Sophia and Chloe for the gala.
I had signed nothing.
If the release were accepted, the sealed original might become worthless.
May you like
The notary was Patricia’s longtime personal secretary.
Her office had been emptied overnight.
