Chapter 6 - The Signature Michael Never Gave
Lucas arrived twenty minutes later.
He walked inside carrying a briefcase and the confidence of a man who expected to control the room.
Then he saw the memory card.
His expression changed.
Michael noticed.
“Recognize it?”
Lucas recovered quickly.
“I came because Sophia said you're threatening her.”
Emily almost laughed.
Michael didn't.
“I want to know who prepared this.”
He placed the trust amendment on the table.
Lucas glanced down.
“That document was authorized by you.”
“No.”
“Michael—”
“I never signed it.”
Lucas looked toward Sophia.
One glance.
Too quick.
But enough.
Michael saw it.
Emily saw it.
“You two did this together.”
Sophia exploded.
“Stop accusing me!”
Michael turned.
“You lied about Emily pushing you.”
“You haven't even watched the video!”
“Because your reaction already told me you're terrified of it.”
Lucas stepped between them verbally.
“Everybody needs to stop speaking until counsel is present.”
Michael stared at him.
“You are my counsel.”
Lucas went silent.
“Or I thought you were.”
Emily called Rebecca Shaw, an attorney recommended by her father.
Rebecca told them not to alter, delete, or circulate any files.
She arrived that evening.
By then Lucas had left.
Sophia left with him.
Michael did not stop them.
Rebecca immediately preserved the memory card and trust documents.
Then she examined the amendment.
“This isn't simply about inheritance.”
“What do you mean?”
“The controlling trustee can make decisions about Reed Manufacturing shares held for your children.”
Michael understood instantly.
His children would eventually inherit his controlling interest.
If Sophia controlled their trust during incapacity, she could potentially exercise enormous influence over those shares.
Emily whispered:
“She wanted the company.”
Michael looked sick.
Rebecca shook her head.
“Potentially. We prove before concluding.”
That sentence became important.
They requested the document's electronic history.
The metadata came back two days later.
Created on Lucas Grant's office computer.
Modified from an account assigned to Sophia.
Michael sat staring at the report.
Then Rebecca showed him another discovery.
The amendment hadn't been created six weeks ago.
The original draft dated back eight months.
Before Emily became pregnant.
Before her mysterious dizzy spells.
Before the staircase.
Sophia and Lucas had been planning for months.
But planning what?
Then Rebecca found a second document in the metadata archive.
A draft petition declaring Michael mentally incompetent to manage Reed Manufacturing.
Attached were notes.
Anger issues.
Impulsive behavior.
Domestic aggression.
Michael's stomach dropped.
Emily touched her bruised cheek.
The meaning was suddenly horrifying.
Sophia hadn't only framed Emily.
May you like
She had provoked Michael into hitting her.
And the hallway camera had recorded him doing it.
