Chapter 6 - The Woman Who Signed
Lauren arrived after dark.
She looked almost exactly as Ethan remembered.
Beautiful.
Controlled.
Except her hands would not stop shaking.
Rebecca recorded the meeting with Lauren’s permission.
Ethan sat across from her in the library.
“You signed a statement saying I abused prescription drugs.”
Lauren looked down.
“Yes.”
“That was false.”
“Yes.”
“How much?”
“Fifty thousand.”
Ethan laughed once.
The sound frightened even him.
“Fifty thousand dollars.”
“I was in debt.”
“So was everyone, apparently.”
Lauren flinched.
“I know what I did.”
“When?”
“Four months ago.”
Catherine had still been alive.
“Who approached you?”
“Damian.”
“Did he say why?”
“He said your mother was preparing to leave you the estate outright and the family needed protection.”
“From me.”
“Yes.”
“What did you think would happen?”
“That they’d create oversight. A trustee.”
Rebecca asked, “Did anyone mention an easement transaction?”
“No.”
“Adrian Cross?”
Lauren looked at Ethan.
“Your father called me once.”
His chest tightened.
“What did he say?”
“That you’d had breakdowns after our engagement ended.”
Ethan stared.
“I did have a breakdown.”
Lauren nodded carefully.
There it was.
Truth mixed with fabrication.
After Lauren left him, Ethan had suffered panic attacks and insomnia.
He had briefly taken prescribed anti-anxiety medication.
Damian knew.
Adrian somehow knew.
Lauren continued.
“They wanted me to say you drank while taking medication.”
“Did I?”
“Once.”
Ethan remembered.
One miserable night.
Two glasses of bourbon.
A prescribed tablet hours later.
A foolish choice.
Not an addiction.
But enough to photograph.
Enough to distort.
“They had pictures,” Lauren said.
“Who took them?”
“I don’t know.”
Ethan leaned back.
His own mistakes had supplied raw material.
Just not the story Damian wanted.
Lauren’s eyes filled.
“I’m sorry.”
Ethan wanted to hate her cleanly.
Then she said:
“Your mother came to see me.”
He froze.
“When?”
“Three weeks ago.”
“What did she say?”
Lauren swallowed.
“She knew I’d signed.”
Ethan stared.
“Did she threaten you?”
“No.”
“What did she do?”
“She asked why.”
Lauren began crying.
“I told her.”
“And?”
“She said, ‘Then correct it while you still have the chance.’”
Ethan closed his eyes.
That sounded exactly like Catherine.
“Did you?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“I was afraid Damian would sue me for the money.”
Rebecca said, “He cannot lawfully contract for false testimony.”
Lauren gave a broken laugh.
“I know that now.”
She produced bank records showing the payment came from Mercer Administrative Services.
Damian’s company.
The same entity tied to Adrian’s financing.
Now the conspiracy had money attached to the lies.
Lauren agreed to sign a truthful affidavit.
After she left, Ethan stood at the library window.
Rebecca joined him.
“You’re angry at yourself.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because part of the story is true.”
“You had panic attacks.”
“Yes.”
“You took medication.”
“Yes.”
“You drank once while taking it.”
“Yes.”
Rebecca nodded.
“None of that makes the false parts true.”
“It makes them easier to believe.”
“That is how sophisticated fraud works.”
Ethan looked toward Catherine’s portrait.
“My mother knew.”
“She did.”
“And she didn’t tell me.”
“Maybe she was trying to gather enough to protect you without frightening you.”
He shook his head.
“Everyone decides what I can handle.”
Rebecca did not defend Catherine.
“That seems to run in the family.”
Clara entered carrying the old recorder.
“I found another file.”
They listened.
Catherine’s voice sounded tired.
“March twenty-eighth. Damian paid Lauren Price through Mercer Administrative Services. I confronted him. He said Ethan’s history made oversight reasonable.”
A pause.
Then:
“I asked whether he intended to protect Ethan or manufacture a version of him that a court could remove.”
Damian’s recorded voice responded:
“You protected that boy from consequences his entire life.”
Catherine:
“He is not a boy.”
Damian:
“Then let him prove it.”
Catherine’s voice sharpened.
“By surviving a lie you created?”
The recording ended.
Ethan looked at Rebecca.
“Can this stop a conservatorship petition?”
“It can destroy credibility if authenticated.”
“Then why would Damian continue?”
Rebecca thought for a moment.
“Because maybe he doesn’t need to win permanently.”
Ethan understood.
“He needs delay.”
“Exactly.”
If Damian could freeze Ethan’s control long enough, an independent fiduciary might review the corridor deal.
Or Adrian might trigger a default.
Rebecca’s phone rang.
She answered.
Her expression changed.
“What?”
She put the phone down.
“Potomac Commercial Bank accelerated Cross Meridian’s loan.”
Adrian’s company now had ten business days to cure an $11 million default.
Ethan frowned.
“What does that have to do with me?”
Rebecca showed him the loan documents.
The disputed Mercer Ridge access option was listed as essential collateral.
Without it, the bank could demand immediate repayment.
Ethan looked toward the guest cottage.
Adrian was not merely helping Damian profit.
He was financially cornered.
And men who believed they were about to lose everything often became dangerous.
A crash sounded outside.
Glass shattered.
Clara screamed.
They rushed into the hall.
A stone had come through the front window.
Wrapped around it was a note.
SIGN TOMORROW OR YOUR MOTHER’S HORSES PAY FIRST.
Ethan ran toward the stable.
Orion was unharmed.
May you like
But the south paddock gate stood open.
Three horses were already running toward the rain-dark road.
