Chương 8
Brooke took a chair near the bar.
Lorraine remained standing.
“No recordings,” Martin said.
Ethan’s phone was already in his pocket, recording.
Daniel answered, “No agreement to confidentiality has been made.”
Martin looked at Ethan. “Are you recording?”
“Yes.”
Lorraine’s head turned sharply.
Daniel closed his eyes.
Ethan removed the phone and placed it on the table. “Now everyone knows.”
Martin sighed. “At least he is consistently difficult.”
Lorraine folded her arms. “I will not participate in an ambush.”
Daniel slid the documents toward her. “These restore the management structure that existed before the disputed amendments. You retain every residency and support provision created by Robert’s trust.”
“Disputed by whom?”
“Ethan.”
“Because Natalie filled his head with fantasies.”
Natalie sat beside Ethan but not close enough to touch him. Her hands rested beneath the table.
Daniel said, “We can discuss the source of each transfer.”
“I will discuss nothing while I am being recorded.”
Ethan reached for the phone.
Natalie spoke without looking at him. “Leave it.”
His hand stopped.
Lorraine saw.
The power shift was tiny and immediate.
Martin removed his glasses. “Lorraine, I need to ask whether you accessed Ethan’s electronic signature account.”
“I managed family business with his permission.”
“Did he give you permission to sign trust amendments?”
“He gave me authority to protect assets during the sale.”
Daniel opened a folder. “We have the authorization. It permits payment of ordinary expenses. It does not permit changes in beneficial control.”
Lorraine looked at Ethan. “You told me to do whatever was necessary.”
“When?”
“On the phone.”
“What date?”
“I do not catalogue every conversation with my son.”
“You catalogue lunch receipts from 2009.”
Brooke reached for a bottle of sparkling water and knocked the cap onto the floor. It rolled beneath the table.
No one retrieved it.
Martin turned to Ethan. “The language you used may matter. People speak loosely during complicated transactions.”
Daniel said, “Then we should determine what actions were taken and why.”
He brought up the first transfer.
The medical reserve account had been created eighteen months earlier after Natalie found a benign growth that required surgery. Ethan had funded it with fifty thousand dollars and instructed the family office to maintain it separately.
The account showed a balance of $41,280 in February.
By June, it held $612.
Daniel placed the statement in front of Lorraine.
“Where did the money go?”
“Household needs.”
“Which household?”
“The family.”
“Be specific.”
Lorraine’s eyes narrowed. “You know how expensive this property is to maintain.”
“The villa expenses were paid from the trust operating account.”
“There were extraordinary costs.”
“Such as?”
“The roof.”
“The roof repair was charged to insurance.”
“Landscaping.”
“Paid from the operating account.”
“Security upgrades.”
“Also paid from the operating account.”
Lorraine’s composure thinned.
Brooke stared at the water bottle.
Daniel placed another statement beside the first.
“A cashier’s check for seventy-eight thousand dollars was issued to an auto dealership. Four thousand was paid separately to cover registration and an extended service contract. Was that Brooke’s SUV?”
Lorraine said, “The vehicle is used for family business.”
Brooke looked up. “No, it isn’t.”
Lorraine turned toward her.
Brooke’s courage faltered, but not entirely.
“I use it,” she said. “You said it was an early birthday gift.”
“It transports you to family events.”
“I drove it to Los Angeles.”
“This is not helpful.”
“No,” Brooke said. “It isn’t.”
Daniel asked Brooke, “Did Ethan approve the purchase?”
“Mother said he did.”
“Did you speak to him?”
“No.”
“Did you see anything in writing?”
“She showed me a message.”
Ethan leaned forward. “What message?”
Brooke opened her handbag and took out her phone. Her hands shook as she searched.
Lorraine said, “You are not required to hand over private communications.”
Brooke ignored her.
She found a screenshot and placed the phone on the table.
The message appeared to be from Ethan.
Take care of Brooke. Use whatever account makes sense. I can’t deal with this right now.
The timestamp showed March 18 at 2:14 a.m.
Ethan had been awake then, negotiating with the buyer’s attorneys.
He had sent Lorraine a message, but not that message.
He opened his own archive. His actual text read:
Take care of the broker. Use whatever account makes sense. I can’t deal with this right now.
Lorraine had removed three letters and altered one word in the screenshot.
The room became very still.
Martin put on his glasses.
“Lorraine,” he said.
She did not look at him. “Brooke misunderstood.”
Brooke’s face changed. Panic replaced confusion.
“You changed it?”
“It was an instruction.”
“You changed his message.”
“I clarified the context.”
“You told me he wanted me to have the car.”
“He wanted you supported.”
“That is not the same thing.”
Lorraine’s voice sharpened. “Do not become theatrical.”
Brooke stood so quickly her chair struck the wall.
“The landlord called me a fraud.”
“Sit down.”
“You said Ethan would cover the lease.”
“Lower your voice.”
“You showed me emails.”
Ethan looked at Daniel.
There it was.
The boutique.
Daniel kept his tone even. “What emails?”
Brooke’s breathing quickened. “From Ethan. About the rent guarantee.”
“I never guaranteed your lease,” Ethan said.
Lorraine gripped the back of a chair.
Brooke stared at him as if he had hit her, though he had not moved.
“You signed it.”
“No.”
“The landlord has your signature.”
Daniel said, “We need a copy.”
Brooke began searching her phone again. “Mother said you were investing.”
Ethan looked at Lorraine. “How much?”
She said nothing.
Brooke found the lease and emailed it to Daniel.
He opened it on the tablet.
The guarantee totaled three hundred and sixty thousand dollars over five years.
Ethan’s electronic signature appeared on the final page.
The same signature Lorraine had used on the trust amendments.
Daniel read silently for almost a minute.
Martin removed his glasses again and folded them.
“Lorraine,” he said, “you should stop speaking.”
It was the first time her own attorney had sounded afraid.
May you like
Lorraine looked around the table.
Her gaze settled on Natalie.
