Chapter 9 - THE STORY RICHARD BOUGHT
The break-in changed Isabella’s position.
Until then, she had been both suspect and source—a participant in the wedding who possessed useful evidence but withheld her phone.
Now someone had entered her apartment and targeted records connected to her mother.
Detective Ortiz refused to assume the break-in was related. There were no usable fingerprints beyond those belonging to Isabella and her landlord. The building camera had been disabled during a maintenance outage. No neighbor had seen the intruder.
The message on the wall could have been a warning.
It could also have been staged.
Isabella contacted police through a newly retained attorney, Priya Shah. She agreed to provide her phone for a limited forensic review under a written protocol protecting unrelated private information.
The review revealed that Isabella had received messages from Gregory for nearly eleven months.
Their affair had begun emotionally and become physical eight months before the garden wedding.
Isabella had lied repeatedly to Wendy during that time.
But the phone also supported parts of her account. Gregory told her the house transfer was consensual. He claimed Wendy had been compensated through other trust assets. He sent her a cropped image of Schedule B and wrote:
Your mother’s family was cheated. We are correcting it.
Priya gave investigators copies of voice messages in which Richard coached Isabella about what to say to Warren Pike.
“You are not asking Wendy for anything,” Richard said in one recording. “You are confirming what already belongs to you.”
Another message was more threatening.
“If you lose your nerve, Gregory loses everything, and Wendy will learn what your mother did.”
Isabella told Detective Ortiz she did not know what Richard meant.
Wendy was not sure she believed her.
Marcus continued tracing the shell companies. Lakeview Advisory had paid wedding vendors. North Meridian transferred money to Alder Crest creditors and Martin Vale. Bellweather Outreach paid for the property appraisal and two private investigators.
One investigator had followed Wendy during her northern coast trip.
The other had spent weeks examining Isabella’s family.
Richard had not stumbled upon her possible connection to Lucía.
He had selected her because of it.
Gregory’s betrayal had not begun with desire alone. His father had recognized Isabella as a potential beneficiary and encouraged the relationship.
When Wendy confronted Gregory through a formal mediation session, his reaction confirmed more than his words.
The mediation took place in separate rooms. A retired judge moved between them while attorneys exchanged offers. Wendy did not expect settlement, but Amelia wanted to evaluate Gregory’s position.
His initial demand included twenty-five percent of Reyes Strategy Group, repayment for years of services, and protection from civil claims concerning the disputed expenses.
He offered to surrender any claimed interest in the Oakhill property.
Wendy rejected the proposal.
Near the end, Gregory requested five private minutes with her. Amelia opposed it, but Wendy agreed on the condition that both lawyers remain within sight through a glass partition.
Gregory looked exhausted.
“You think my father arranged Isabella.”
“I think he investigated her before you started sleeping with her.”
“That doesn’t mean he created what happened.”
“No. You did that yourself.”
He accepted the blow.
Then he said, “Richard told me Lucía stole the house.”
“From whom?”
“My grandfather.”
“By borrowing money?”
“By promising him ownership.”
Wendy placed the photocopy of the alleged 1987 promissory note on the table. Richard’s lawyer had produced it that morning. It stated that Lucía received one hundred eighty thousand dollars from Arthur Vance, secured by the Oakhill property.
But it was not a recorded mortgage.
The note contained a handwritten clause stating that if Lucía failed to repay within ten years, Arthur or his heirs could demand transfer of a fifty-percent interest.
“Was it repaid?” Wendy asked.
“My father says no.”
“What do you say?”
“I don’t know.”
“Then why risk my home?”
Gregory looked through the glass toward his attorney.
“Because Alder Crest was going to collapse. Hundreds of employees would lose their jobs. My father said he needed the property for ninety days. He said he had buyers ready and the loan would never reach default.”
“And you believed him?”
“I needed to.”
“Why?”
Gregory’s eyes returned to hers.
“Because I had already taken the first transfer.”
He admitted that the earliest payment—forty thousand dollars routed through North Meridian—had been his idea. He believed Wendy owed him compensation. Richard discovered it and offered to hide the transaction through his network.
After that, Richard owned the secret.
Every later transfer deepened Gregory’s dependence.
“Did you forge my signature?”
“Not by hand.”
“What does that mean?”
“I gave my father a scanned signature page. He said the lawyers would attach it only after you agreed.”
“Did you believe that?”
“At first.”
“And later?”
Gregory looked down.
“No.”
Wendy’s anger became almost calm.
“Who has the original Schedule B?”
“Martin Vale had it.”
“Where is he?”
“I don’t know.”
“Who broke into Isabella’s apartment?”
“I don’t know.”
“What did her mother do?”
For the first time, Gregory appeared genuinely frightened.
“My father says Marina Marín was paid to disappear after Lucía’s daughter died.”
Wendy leaned forward.
“My mother died in a car accident.”
“That is the story Richard bought from Vale.”
“What story did Vale sell him?”
Gregory’s attorney opened the door, ending the session.
May you like
But Gregory answered before standing.
“That Elena Reyes was not the woman buried under her name.”
