Chapter 2 - The Account That Didn’t Belong to Richard
Amanda took Ethan upstairs only long enough to collect his essentials.
She did not leave him alone with Richard, Brooke or Tyler.
Richard kept following her.
“Amanda, listen to me.”
“No.”
“This isn't what you think.”
“You brought your mistress into our house.”
Richard flinched.
Brooke shouted from downstairs:
“He invited me!”
Amanda looked at Richard.
“That part seems fairly easy to understand.”
Richard lowered his voice.
“The safe is different.”
That stopped her.
Not the affair.
Not Ethan.
The safe.
“What’s inside?”
“I can’t tell you.”
Amanda almost laughed.
“Then I'll call someone who can open it.”
Richard grabbed the doorframe.
“No.”
The fear was immediate.
“Why?”
“If you open it incorrectly, we could lose everything.”
We.
Interesting word.
Amanda took Ethan and left.
That night, Ethan was examined. No serious injury.
Amanda documented everything and arranged that Tyler would not be around Ethan again.
Then she called her attorney, Rachel Levin.
Rachel had already been investigating something for Amanda.
Not Richard’s affair.
Money.
Six weeks earlier, Amanda discovered a $380,000 transfer from an investment account she didn't recognize.
Richard claimed it was business capital.
But account statements came to Amanda’s email because her Social Security number was associated with it.
The account contained $11.8 million.
Amanda had never seen it.
Richard told her it belonged to Whitman Development.
Rachel checked.
It didn't.
Owner:
AW Legacy Holdings.
Amanda Whitman?
Possibly.
Richard said AW meant “Asset Warehouse.”
Rachel found no such registered entity.
Then another discovery.
The house was purchased eight years earlier for $2.4 million.
Amanda believed Richard’s company paid down payment.
Actually:
A trust did.
The Avery Family Settlement Trust.
Amanda’s maiden name was Avery.
Her father, Thomas Avery, had died when she was seventeen.
He had not been wealthy.
At least that was what Amanda had always believed.
Rachel examined title records.
“Amanda, Richard doesn't own your house.”
“Do I?”
“Not exactly.”
“Who does?”
“The Avery trust.”
Amanda stared.
“Why have I never heard of it?”
Rachel slid over another page.
Because Richard had been receiving correspondence as:
Authorized Financial Representative for Amanda Avery Whitman.
Amanda had never authorized him.
Then Rachel showed her a signature.
It looked almost perfect.
Amanda touched the paper.
“That isn't mine.”
Rachel nodded.
“That's what I thought.”
Amanda’s phone rang.
Richard.
She ignored it.
Then a message appeared.
PLEASE DON’T OPEN THE SAFE UNTIL I EXPLAIN.
Amanda stared.
Another message arrived.
Not from Richard.
Unknown number.
He isn't afraid of what you'll find inside.
He's afraid of who put it there.
Attached was an old photograph.
Thomas Avery.
Amanda’s supposedly broke father.
May you like
Standing beside a young man Amanda immediately recognized.
Richard’s father.
