Chapter 12 - The Trap Springs Shut
"Before they took Nancy’s personal belongings for booking," Rebecca said slowly, "the detective emptied her purse onto the counter. Among her items, they found a certified bank deposit box key registered under your father’s name, dated just two weeks before he died."
I frowned, glancing at Arthur Vance, who was still sitting across from me. Arthur’s eyes widened slightly in alarm.
"That’s impossible," Arthur said, leaning toward the speaker. "Thomas closed all safety deposit boxes before his final hospitalization."
"He didn't close this one," Rebecca said. "It’s registered at the Meridian Trust downtown. The box was sealed under an emergency contingency codicil. Nancy was carrying an unsigned legal transfer document. She was trying to access that box before the court froze her assets tomorrow."
"What is inside the box, Mr. Vance?" I asked, my voice tightening.
Arthur took off his glasses, his hands visibly shaking for the first time. "Jocelyn... your father had a business partner before he met Nancy. A man named Richard Sterling—the father of your hospital’s Chief of Staff, Robert Sterling."
The room seemed to tilt beneath my feet.
"My father and Robert’s father were partners?"
"They co-founded the regional biomedical research facility that eventually funded the hospital foundation," Arthur confessed, his voice dropping to a whisper. "Nancy forced your father to sever ties with Richard thirty years ago through blackmail. She threatened to release forged documents accusing Richard of malpractice unless your father bought Richard out at pennies on the dollar. Your father complied to protect his friend, but he kept the original partnership contracts locked away."
"If Nancy was trying to open that box..." Chloe breathed, horrified.
May you like
"She wasn't trying to open it to hide it," Arthur said gravely. "She was trying to destroy the evidence. Because if those original contracts come to light, the Sterling family has the legal right to claim fifty percent of everything Thomas ever built—including the trust that bought this house."
The ground seemed to crumble beneath the safe haven I had fought so hard to defend. Nancy’s defeat wasn't the end of the war; it was the trigger for a buried secret that could bring the entire foundation of our lives crashing down.
