Chapter 5 - The Signature That Should Not ExistRachel arrived before sunrise the next morning.
By seven, the legal department had isolated both versions of Arthur’s trust document.
The original draft was exactly what Rachel remembered.
The altered file was not.
On page seventeen, controlling shares of Vance Global transferred entirely to Luca upon Arthur’s death.
On page twenty-two, Luca became executor of the estate.
And at the bottom of page twenty-seven was Arthur’s signature.
Except Arthur had never signed it.
Rachel stared at the screen.
“This is forged.”
I felt sick.
“Can we prove that?”
“We can prove this isn't the version prepared by my office.”
Arthur was called immediately.
He listened without interruption.
When Rachel finished, he asked one question.
“When was it uploaded?”
She told him.
Arthur closed his eyes.
“That was the day Luca visited me after chemotherapy.”
My skin prickled.
Arthur remembered Luca bringing several documents for him to sign.
Vendor authorizations.
Insurance paperwork.
Routine company forms.
Rachel ordered every document from that day secured.
By noon, a forensic document examiner had been contacted.
By three, another discovery surfaced.
A notary stamp appeared on the altered trust.
The notary named on the document had retired eight months earlier.
“This isn't sloppy,” Rachel said.
“It was meant to look legitimate long enough to create chaos after Arthur died.”
I stared through the conference-room windows at downtown Hartford.
“How much chaos?”
“Potentially years of litigation.”
“And during those years?”
“If Luca established himself as acting controller before anyone challenged the paperwork, he could make enormous decisions.”
Sell assets.
Borrow against the company.
Transfer money.
Destroy evidence.
Arthur had built Vance Global over four decades.
Luca may have planned to seize it in forty-eight hours.
But there was another problem.
We still couldn't prove Luca personally forged anything.
His credentials had been used.
His laptop had been involved.
But that wasn't enough.
Then Rachel found a name buried in the metadata.
CMercer.
Chloe Mercer.
At 5:20 that evening, Luca called me.
I almost ignored him.
Then I answered.
“What?”
“Dad collapsed.”
Everything inside me stopped.
“What?”
“He's at St. Francis.”
I grabbed my coat.
“Is he conscious?”
“I don't know.”
The drive to the hospital felt endless.
Cold rain hammered the windshield.
I ran through the emergency entrance and found Luca outside the oncology wing.
He looked shattered.
For one second, the war disappeared.
He was simply a frightened son.
“What happened?”
“He was at home.”
“Where is he?”
“Doctors are with him.”
Kelly and Leo arrived twenty minutes later with my sister.
Leo immediately asked whether Grandpa was dying.
I couldn't answer.
At 8:10, a physician finally approached.
Arthur had suffered complications related to treatment and severe dehydration.
He was stable.
But weak.
Only one visitor was permitted.
Luca stood.
The doctor looked at me.
“Mr. Vance requested Mrs. Sterling.”
Luca’s face hardened.
I entered Arthur’s room.
Machines surrounded him.
His skin looked almost translucent beneath the hospital lights.
He opened his eyes.
“Jessi.”
“I’m here.”
I took his hand.
He squeezed weakly.
“Rachel told me.”
“You shouldn't worry about the company.”
“I built that company.”
Even half-conscious, Arthur remained Arthur.
I smiled through tears.
“We found the forged document.”
His eyes sharpened.
“Luca?”
“We don't know.”
“Chloe?”
“Her name appears in the metadata.”
Arthur stared at the ceiling.
Then he whispered something unexpected.
“She worked for us.”
“What?”
“Three years ago.”
I leaned closer.
“Chloe worked at Vance Global?”
“Temporary legal assistant.”
My pulse quickened.
“Why didn't I know?”
“Different division.”
Arthur closed his eyes.
“She was fired.”
“For what?”
Arthur looked at me again.
“Copying confidential files.”
A cold sensation spread through my chest.
The affair suddenly looked different.
Maybe Chloe hadn't met Luca by accident.
Maybe she had known exactly who he was.
Exactly who his father was.
Exactly what he expected to inherit.
I stood.
“Rest.”
Arthur tightened his fingers around mine.
“Jessi.”
“Yes?”
“If anything happens to me…”
“Nothing is happening.”
“Listen.”
His voice was weak but firm.
“There's a safe-deposit box.”
I froze.
“First National.”
“What’s inside?”
Arthur glanced toward the hospital-room door.
“Something Luca doesn't know exists.”
Before I could ask another question, his heart monitor changed rhythm.
A nurse rushed inside.
Then another.
“Ma'am, you need to step outside.”
“Arthur?”
“Jessi…”
His voice disappeared beneath alarms.
A nurse pulled me backward.
Doctors surrounded the bed.
The doors closed in front of me.
Luca stood across the hallway.
For several seconds, neither of us moved.
Then he looked at the doors behind me.
“What did he tell you?”
I stared at my husband.
And suddenly I knew exactly what I had to do.
May you like
I lied.
“Nothing.”
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