Chapter 9 - The Forged Will
Robert ended the call with the sheriff and found Maya staring at the envelope in the kitchen.
""Don't open it,"" Robert said softly, taking the paper from her hands. He slit the top with an ivory letter opener and slid out the folded legal document inside.
As his eyes scanned the text, his hands began to shake with renewed violence. It wasn't a farewell note. It was a formal court petition filed two weeks prior in probate court—a motion to challenge the executor status of Maya’s late mother’s estate.
""What is it?"" Maya asked, alarmed by the sudden paleness of his face.
""She didn't just target your scholarship,"" Robert said, his voice barely a rasp. ""She found the probate loop in your mother's trust. Because you turn eighteen at midnight tonight, the full distribution was set to transfer to your sole name.""
""And?""
""Eleanor filed an emergency petition alleging parental incompetence and fiduciary neglect against me, requesting the court appoint an independent conservator to oversee the distribution of your mother’s intellectual property and estate royalties.""
Maya felt the room spin. Her mother, Sarah Lin, had been a renowned patent illustrator and software designer whose residual earnings funded both the family estate and Maya’s educational trust.
""Who did she request as conservator?"" Maya asked.
""Her sister’s legal firm,"" Robert replied, crushing the document in his fist. ""If this petition passes an uncontested hearing tomorrow morning at nine, the entire capital base of Lin Technologies’ royalties transfers to an escrow account managed by Eleanor’s family.""
""Tomorrow at nine?"" Maya cried. ""That’s eight hours away!""
""She scheduled the hearing on commencement weekend intentionally,"" Robert said, the full extent of the predatory conspiracy becoming horrifyingly clear. ""She knew we’d be preoccupied. She tried to make sure you and I were estranged tonight so that neither of us would compare notes before the default judgment was signed.""
May you like
The front doorbell chimed suddenly, breaking the silence of the ransacked house.
Robert moved to the window, peering through the blinds. Parked in the driveway behind his sedan was a black town car with official state plates, its hazards flashing in the darkness.
