PART 4 — THE INHERITANCE TRAP
I couldn't stop staring at the list.
Seven women.
Seven names.
And beside each one, notes about wealth, property, investments, family relationships.
It wasn't a list.
It was a hunting map.
Luca had been selecting women the way an investor selected companies.
Calculating value.
Calculating risk.
Calculating how much he could take.
“Who was the woman who died?” I asked.
Caroline lowered her eyes.
“Her name was Melissa Grant.”
“How did she die?”
“Car accident.”
“When?”
“Three years ago.”
“Was she married to Luca?”
“No.”
“But she was on his list.”
Caroline nodded.
“He dated her.”
My skin crawled.
“How do you know?”
“Because I found his messages.”
Phoebe took the file.
“Where?”
“On an old laptop.”
Caroline pulled another folder from the cabinet.
“This is everything I saved before leaving him.”
She placed photographs on the table.
Luca with different women.
Restaurants.
Hotels.
Private parties.
Always smiling.
Always charming.
Always standing beside women with expensive jewelry.
One photograph made my heart stop.
Luca was standing beside Wendy.
His mother.
And another woman.
I recognized her.
Melissa.
“What happened here?”
Caroline looked at the photograph.
“They were discussing her inheritance.”
“His mother was involved?”
“She always was.”
I felt sick.
“What about Stephanie?”
“His sister helped too.”
I looked at Phoebe.
“This is organized.”
Phoebe nodded.
“Very.”
Then my phone rang.
It was the police detective Phoebe had contacted.
“Ms. Bennett?”
“Yes.”
“We need you to come to the station.”
“Why?”
“We received a complaint from your husband.”
My eyes narrowed.
“What complaint?”
“He claims you threatened him.”
I almost laughed.
“Of course he did.”
“There is more.”
“What?”
“He says you are mentally unstable after giving birth.”
My blood boiled.
“He locked me out of my house.”
“I know.”
“He forged my signature.”
“We're investigating.”
“And now he's trying to make me look unstable?”
“Yes.”
There was a pause.
“That's why we need your statement.”
I looked at Lily's baby monitor.
“I'll come.”
* * *
At the police station, I expected hostility.
Instead, Detective Marcus Hale met me privately.
He placed a folder on the desk.
“Your husband has made several allegations.”
“I know.”
“He claims you threatened to destroy him financially.”
“I told him I would protect my property.”
“That isn't a crime.”
He opened another file.
“He also claims you have postpartum emotional instability.”
I stared at him.
“Do I?”
“No.”
His answer was immediate.
“You've been cooperative.”
He pushed another document toward me.
“This is the signature he submitted.”
I looked at it.
My name.
But the handwriting was wrong.
“That's not mine.”
“We know.”
He opened another photograph.
“Because we found the original.”
It showed my signature from the property documents.
Then the forged version.
“Someone tried very hard to make them look identical.”
“Who?”
“We're not sure.”
“Luca?”
“Likely.”
“Likely isn't enough.”
Detective Hale leaned back.
“There's something you should know.”
“What?”
“We searched Luca's financial records.”
My heart tightened.
“And?”
“He has significant debts.”
“How much?”
“Just over $3.2 million.”
I stared at him.
“What?”
“Private loans. Gambling debts. Credit lines.”
My stomach dropped.
“That's why he wanted the house.”
“Probably.”
“Probably?”
Detective Hale looked at me.
“His creditors have already started contacting him.”
I understood.
He wasn't trying to steal my home because he wanted luxury.
He needed it because he was drowning.
Then Detective Hale said:
“There is another problem.”
“What?”
“Your husband may have access to your daughter's inheritance.”
I froze.
“Lily doesn't have an inheritance.”
“Not directly.”
He handed me a document.
I read it.
My father's trust.
The document I had seen the day before.
There was a clause I hadn't noticed.
Upon the birth of Jessica Bennett's first child, a protected inheritance account shall be established.
I looked at the amount.
My hands went numb.
$6,000,000.
Six million dollars.
For Lily.
Protected until she turned twenty-five.
But there was a guardian clause.
The legal guardian could manage the account for necessary expenses.
And if both parents were legally recognized…
Luca could potentially petition for access.
I looked at Detective Hale.
“He knows about this.”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“We don't know.”
I thought of Wendy.
Stephanie.
The questions they had asked.
The strange interest in Lily's future.
Everything suddenly made sense.
Luca wasn't just after my estate.
He wanted my daughter's trust.
My daughter had been born three days ago.
And already someone had calculated how much her life was worth.
I stood.
“I need to protect her.”
“You should.”
* * *
That evening, Phoebe came to Evelyn's house.
She placed a new document in front of me.
“The house sale is tomorrow.”
I nodded.
“And I have something else.”
“What?”
“The buyer isn't just a random investor.”
“Who is he?”
Phoebe looked at me.
“Your father's old business partner.”
I frowned.
“Which one?”
“Daniel Reed.”
I stared at her.
“That can't be.”
“Why?”
“He died.”
Phoebe shook her head.
“No.”
She slid a photograph toward me.
An older man.
Silver hair.
A familiar face.
Daniel Reed.
Alive.
And beneath the photograph was a note.
He requested one condition before purchasing the estate.
“What condition?”
Phoebe looked at me.
“He wants the house sold with everything inside.”
I frowned.
“Everything?”
“Furniture. Documents. Even the basement storage.”
“Why?”
Phoebe hesitated.
“He believes your father hid something in that house.”
I looked toward the baby monitor.
Then at the folder.
Suddenly the house didn't feel like a stolen property anymore.
It felt like a vault.
And Luca had spent the last three days locking me out of the one place where my father may have hidden the truth.
I looked at Phoebe.
“Cancel nothing.”
She frowned.
“Jessi?”
“Let the sale happen.”
“Why?”
I picked up the photograph of Daniel Reed.
“Because I want to know what my father left behind.”
Then my phone buzzed.
A message from an unknown number appeared.
DON'T SELL THE HOUSE.
A second message arrived.
YOUR HUSBAND ISN'T THE ONLY PERSON LOOKING FOR WHAT'S INSIDE.
Then a final message.
AND LUCA IS ABOUT TO FIND IT.
