Chapter 12 - Ben Keller’s Price
Ethan wanted to confront Ben immediately.
Rebecca stopped him.
“Let investigators do it.”
For once, Ethan listened.
Ben had worked for Reed Property Group for fourteen years.
He attended Ethan’s wedding to Natalie.
Held Maisie in the hospital after she was born.
Spoke at Natalie’s funeral.
Then quietly helped Corinne forge control over the Carter trust.
Investigators traced the digital signatures to Ben’s office computer.
He initially denied everything.
Then they showed him bank transfers.
$240,000 over two years.
Paid through a consulting company linked to Corinne.
Ben broke.
He claimed Corinne approached him because Reed Property Group was facing an undisclosed tax problem.
She said the trust restructuring had been approved privately by Ethan.
Ben knew that wasn’t true.
He helped anyway.
Why?
Debt.
Gambling.
A failing marriage.
Corinne found every weakness.
Just as she had found Ethan’s grief.
Ben created electronic copies of signatures.
Prepared draft amendments.
Backdated correspondence.
But he insisted he knew nothing about the car.
Investigators found no evidence contradicting him.
Then Ben revealed something Ethan had never suspected.
Corinne’s original goal was not to kill Natalie.
It was to force her out.
Corinne believed that once Natalie uncovered the forgery, she could make Ethan think his wife was unstable.
Ben had seen draft messages Corinne prepared.
Stories about Natalie’s spending.
Her anxiety.
Her parenting.
Corinne planned to isolate her.
Discredit her.
Possibly push Ethan toward divorce.
Then Natalie gathered proof faster than expected.
Everything escalated.
Ben whispered during his interview:
“Corinne was obsessed with becoming Mrs. Carter.”
Ethan stared at the transcript.
He had believed their relationship grew from shared grief.
Corinne had designed the opportunity long before.
She studied Natalie.
Then studied Ethan.
And after Natalie died, she inserted herself into every empty space.
The realization disgusted him.
But one question remained.
Why?
Money explained part of it.
Control explained more.
Still, Corinne had taken enormous risks.
Rebecca found the answer in Ben’s financial records.
Corinne had secretly invested nearly $3 million of stolen company money into a failed luxury development.
The project collapsed.
The money vanished.
She needed access to the Carter trust to cover the hole before auditors discovered it.
Natalie found the missing transfers first.
If Natalie exposed her, Corinne faced financial ruin and criminal investigation.
Suddenly every decision had a timeline.
Forge documents.
Discredit Natalie.
Stop the audit.
Sabotage the car.
Hide the originals.
Marry Ethan.
Gain control.
Silence Maisie.
Corinne had not been chasing romance.
She had been outrunning exposure.
Then Rebecca placed one last file on Ethan’s desk.
“Maisie’s trust.”
“What about it?”
“Corinne submitted another amendment last month.”
Ethan’s stomach dropped.
“What did it do?”
Rebecca looked at him.
“If approved, it would have removed you as Maisie’s sole controlling parent for trust purposes if you were declared mentally incapacitated.”
Ethan stared.
May you like
Corinne had already started building the next version of the same plan.
This time, against him.
