Chapter 5 - The Green Bag
Ethan remembered it immediately.
A dark green leather travel bag.
Corinne kept it in the bedroom closet.
She claimed it contained old clothes.
Ethan walked toward the stairs.
Corinne rushed in front of him.
“No.”
Rebecca watched her carefully.
Ethan stopped.
“Move.”
“That bag is private.”
“You dragged my daughter by the hair to stop her from pointing at a cabinet.”
“That has nothing to do with my personal belongings.”
“It has everything to do with them.”
Corinne refused to move.
Ethan took out his phone.
“I’ll call the police and wait.”
Her expression changed.
“Don’t.”
“Why?”
Silence.
Rebecca spoke.
“Corinne, if those are Natalie’s legal documents, keeping them hidden creates a much bigger problem for you.”
Corinne’s jaw tightened.
Finally, she stepped aside.
Ethan went upstairs.
The green bag was gone.
He came back down.
“Where is it?”
Corinne folded her arms.
“I threw it away.”
Maisie shook her head.
“No.”
Corinne stared at her.
Maisie clutched her rabbit tighter.
“Garage.”
Ethan’s heart pounded.
He opened the interior garage door.
The bag sat behind a stack of storage bins.
Not hidden well.
Hidden fast.
Rebecca photographed it before Ethan touched anything.
Inside were old clothes.
A scarf.
Two empty folders.
And a sealed plastic document sleeve.
Ethan pulled it free.
Corinne suddenly lunged.
Rebecca stepped back.
“Do not touch him.”
Corinne stopped.
Ethan opened the sleeve.
Original Carter Family Trust.
Original medical power of attorney.
Original custody designation.
Natalie’s real signatures.
No Corinne.
No replacement trustee.
No changes.
Nothing matched the copies inside the cabinet.
Rebecca examined the dates.
Then she looked at Ethan.
“These originals invalidate a lot of what we just found.”
Corinne snapped.
“They’re outdated!”
Rebecca shook her head.
“No.”
She pointed to the notarization.
“These are later than the forged amendments.”
Corinne’s breathing became shallow.
Ethan flipped to the custody designation.
If Ethan died or became incapacitated, Natalie remained primary guardian.
If Natalie also died—
Maisie’s guardian would be Ethan’s sister, Lauren.
Not Corinne.
Never Corinne.
Then Rebecca pulled out another page.
A handwritten note in Natalie’s handwriting.
Corinne asked me today whether Maisie would inherit everything if Ethan and I were both gone.
Ethan felt physically sick.
He looked at his wife.
“Why did you ask her that?”
Corinne stepped back.
“I didn’t.”
Rebecca spoke quietly.
“Then we need to find out who did.”
Ethan flipped the page.
May you like
At the bottom Natalie had written one more line.
She already knew the answer before she asked me.
