Chapter 2 - The Six-Million-Dollar LieMy family was removed from the room.
But the nightmare had only begun.
David placed a sealed envelope in my lap.
“Ethan told me to give you this only if your family made a move.”
My hands trembled.
On the front were three words.
FOR RACHEL.
Inside was Ethan's handwriting.
He had known.
Not that he would die.
But that something was coming.
He had discovered that my father and brother had borrowed six million dollars using forged guarantees in my name.
My signature had been copied.
My identity had been used.
My future had been mortgaged without my knowledge.
And Ethan had been investigating them.
The night before his death, he had confronted my father.
The following afternoon, Ethan called me.
I missed it because I was asleep.
His voicemail said:
I found something ugly. Don't worry. I'll explain when I get home. Love you.
He never came home.
For four days, I had believed “something ugly” was a business problem.
Now I knew it was my family.
David told me Ethan had placed Walker Industrial Systems into a protective trust.
I was the primary beneficiary.
The twins were secondary beneficiaries.
Neither my father nor brother could touch it.
Then David told me something worse.
“The notary who certified your forged signatures was Carla.”
My sister-in-law.
The same woman who had stood beside my hospital bed while my brother held my newborn.
I felt something inside me break.
Then my phone rang.
Carla.
She was crying.
“Rachel, I didn't know they were taking Noah.”
“You notarized forged documents.”
“I thought your father had your permission.”
“You locked my hospital room.”
Silence.
Then she whispered:
“There's something you need to know.”
David leaned toward me.
“What?”
“Mark knew where Ethan was going the night he died.”
My heart stopped.
“How?”
“He called Ethan twenty minutes before the crash.”
“Why?”
“I don't know.”
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Then she said something that changed the case completely.
“Mark wasn't home when Ethan died.”
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