Chapter 3 - A Signature I Never Gave
I stared at the page until the letters blurred.
Not because of the disinfectant.
Because I knew my signature.
The curve of the S.
The short line through the t in Sterling.
The way I always lifted the pen before the final g.
Whoever had copied it knew those details too.
"This is forged."
Julian said nothing.
Evelyn stepped away from the fireplace.
"You're upset."
I looked at her.
"My husband just sprayed chemicals into my eyes, dragged me across the floor, and now I'm holding a property authorization with a fake version of my signature."
Her mouth hardened.
"Then perhaps screaming isn't helping your case."
"My case?"
Arthur swore under his breath.
Julian's expression shifted.
I saw the instant he chose a new strategy.
He loosened his shoulders.
Lowered his voice.
"Sophia, listen to me."
"No."
"You've been drinking."
I actually laughed.
It hurt my face.
"I had half a glass of champagne."
"You've been emotional all day."
Arthur said, "Julian."
Julian ignored him.
"You attacked my mother."
Evelyn immediately touched her wrist.
There wasn't a mark on it.
I understood.
This wasn't improvisation.
They had a story ready.
Maybe they had always had one.
"You were supposed to sign something tonight," I said.
Julian's jaw moved.
"Don't."
"That's why you got angry."
"Sophia."
"What was it?"
Evelyn stepped closer.
"You embarrassed Julian in his own home."
"No. I refused to sign something I hadn't read."
That had happened thirty minutes before the attack.
After the last wedding guests left the foyer, Julian had taken me into the adjoining library.
There had been a leather folder on the desk.
He'd called it a "routine marital property acknowledgment."
I had told him I'd look at it tomorrow.
His entire face had changed.
Then Evelyn appeared.
Ten minutes later, Julian had my hair in his fist.
I looked at the forged page again.
"Was this what you were trying to replace?"
Arthur's voice came quietly.
"No."
We all looked at him.
He was sitting against the wall now, breathing harder than he wanted us to notice.
"The document in your hand is older."
"How old?"
Arthur looked at Julian.
"Six months."
My skin went cold.
I hadn't even met Julian six months ago.
Evelyn's composure cracked for half a second.
Arthur saw it.
"So you didn't tell her."
Julian said, "Dad, stop."
Arthur pointed at the torn documents.
"I received copies this morning from a clerk who still remembers who owns Vance Holdings."
Evelyn snapped, "You no longer manage those accounts."
"Because you filed an incapacity petition while I was sedated."
Nobody spoke.
I looked from Arthur to Evelyn.
"What petition?"
Evelyn's smile returned, but it was strained.
"Arthur has been ill."
"Was he?"
Julian came toward me.
"Give me the page."
I backed away.
"No."
"Sophia."
"No."
His right hand flexed.
My body remembered the spray before my mind did.
I stumbled backward.
Arthur noticed.
Something in his face hardened.
"If you touch her again, Julian, I will make sure every member of the board knows exactly what happened tonight."
Julian turned.
"You think the board still listens to you?"
Arthur went quiet.
That silence told me more than the words.
Julian knew something his father didn't.
I folded the page and shoved it inside the bodice of my wedding dress.
Julian stared at me.
"You can't use that."
"Watch me."
Evelyn laughed softly.
"Use it with whom?"
That stopped me.
My father had died four years earlier.
My mother had been gone since I was nineteen.
The attorney who had handled my father's estate was Peter Caldwell, a man I'd known since childhood.
I pulled my phone from the torn pocket sewn into my gown.
The screen was cracked but working.
I called Peter.
Julian's eyes changed.
"Don't."
I turned away.
Peter answered on the fourth ring.
"Sophia?"
My throat tightened at the sound of a familiar voice.
"Peter, I need you."
"What's wrong?"
"I found a document involving Sterling Point. My signature's been forged."
There was a pause.
Too long.
"Where are you?"
"At the Vance mansion."
Another pause.
Then Peter said something that made every hair on my arms rise.
"Is Arthur there?"
I looked at him across the foyer.
"Yes."
Peter exhaled.
"Sophia, listen carefully. Do not show Arthur the full document."
My stomach dropped.
"Why?"
Peter lowered his voice.
"Because Arthur Vance is the reason Sterling Point was locked in the first place."
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Then the call disconnected.
📖 Find out why my father's trusted attorney warned me about Arthur—and what Sterling Point had been hiding since my childhood in CHAPTER 4. 👇
