Rachel placed another document beside it.
“But this isn't.”
It was a petition draft.
If Nathan became incapacitated or died, Vanessa intended to request full guardianship over Emily.
Nathan stared at her.
“She was going to be my wife.”
“That alone isn't suspicious.”
“Then why am I here?”
Rachel placed Sarah's trust documents on the table.
Sarah's parents had created a trust for Emily after Sarah's death.
Nathan knew it existed.
He had deliberately stayed uninvolved.
The trust contained the proceeds from Sarah's life insurance, investments and her share of her family's manufacturing company.
At twenty-five, Emily would inherit everything.
The current value was approximately fourteen million dollars.
Nathan looked at Rachel.
“Vanessa knew about this?”
“She requested records six months ago.”
“Under whose authority?”
Rachel looked at him.
“Yours.”
“I didn't request them.”
“I know.”
More impersonation.
More documents.
More pieces of Nathan's identity quietly used while he traveled.
Then Rachel showed him something else.
A boarding-school application.
Emily Cole.
Age six.
Proposed enrollment beginning that fall.
School location: Vermont.
Nathan stared.
“Who filled this out?”
“Vanessa.”
“I've never discussed boarding school.”
“The deposit was paid six weeks ago.”
Nathan felt his hands begin to shake.
Vanessa planned to marry him.
Then send his daughter away.
He drove straight to the house Vanessa had been staying in since the canceled wedding.
Her sister opened the door.
“Nathan.”
“Where is she?”
“She's not here.”
“I need Emily's locket.”
Her sister's face changed.
“You should come inside.”
They sat in the kitchen.
Vanessa's younger sister, Claire, looked exhausted.
“I should have told you before the wedding.”
“What?”
“I kept thinking she would change after you two married.”
Nathan almost laughed.
“That's what everyone keeps saying.”
Claire slid her phone across the table.
A message thread with Vanessa.
Six months of conversations.
Vanessa: Emily cried about Sarah again.
Claire: She's six.
Vanessa: That's the problem. Nathan treats grief like it's sacred.
Another:
Vanessa: Once we're married I'll have more authority.
Claire: Authority over what?
Vanessa: Our house. Our family. Everything can't be about a dead woman and her kid forever.
Nathan's jaw tightened.
Another message.
Claire: You knew he had a daughter.
Vanessa: I didn't know he'd let her control him.
Claire: She is a CHILD.
Vanessa: A child who knows exactly how to make him feel guilty.
Then the message that made Nathan stop.
Vanessa: Vermont solves most of it.
Claire: What is Vermont?
Vanessa: School.
Claire: Nathan agreed?