Chapter 2 — The Trust Catherine Left Behind
Chapter 2 — The Trust Catherine Left Behind
Brooke stared at Dominic.
For several seconds, nobody moved.
Emma stood beside the open safe, Catherine's letter trembling in her hand.
Dominic's eyes were fixed on Brooke.
Not angry.
Not surprised.
That was what frightened her most.
He looked as though he had already known.
Brooke slowly recovered herself.
“You're misunderstanding what you're seeing.”
Dominic glanced at the safe.
“Am I?”
“I found those documents because I was trying to protect your family.”
“By hiding my mother's letter?”
“I didn't hide it.”
“You put it in your safe.”
Brooke swallowed.
“That isn't what happened.”
Dominic stepped into the room.
“Then tell me what happened.”
Brooke looked toward Emma.
“Why was she in here?”
Emma lowered her eyes.
Dominic answered for her.
“I sent her.”
Brooke's expression tightened.
“You sent a maid into my bedroom?”
“I sent an employee to retrieve something that belongs to my family.”
“Your family?”
Dominic's voice remained calm.
“My mother.”
Brooke looked at the letter.
Then back at him.
“You think Catherine wrote that?”
“I know she did.”
Brooke laughed nervously.
“She hated me.”
Dominic's eyes hardened.
“She barely knew you.”
“She knew enough.”
“Apparently.”
He held out his hand.
“Give me the letter.”
Emma hesitated.
Dominic nodded.
She handed it to him.
He read it silently.
His face changed only once.
At the final sentence.
Never let Brooke discover that Dominic knows the truth about his father's death.
Brooke watched him carefully.
“You knew.”
Dominic folded the letter.
“I knew enough.”
Her voice became quieter.
“What do you know?”
“That my father didn't die the way everyone told me.”
Brooke went pale.
Dominic looked directly into her eyes.
“And now I know you were looking for the same truth.”
Brooke took a step backward.
“I don't know what you're talking about.”
“You hired Marcus Hale.”
“No.”
“He entered the estate at three fourteen this morning.”
“I don't know Marcus.”
“You've spoken to him six times in the last two weeks.”
Brooke's mouth opened.
Nothing came out.
Dominic walked toward the safe.
He removed a bank statement.
“This account.”
Brooke looked at it.
“It's not mine.”
“It's under the name Eleanor Harrington.”
“My aunt.”
“Your aunt died four years ago.”
Brooke stared at him.
Dominic placed another document beside it.
A wire transfer.
$2.4 million.
Then another.
$1.8 million.
Then another.
$900,000.
Emma's eyes widened.
“Where did that money come from?”
Dominic answered.
“Catherine's trust.”
Brooke shook her head.
“No.”
“You knew about it.”
“I didn't take anything.”
“Then why is your signature on the transfer authorization?”
Brooke stared at the paper.
Her face lost its color.
“That isn't my signature.”
Dominic studied her.
“Maybe not.”
He turned toward Emma.
“Call my attorney.”
Emma pulled out her phone.
Brooke suddenly laughed.
“What?”
Dominic looked at her.
“You're so confident.”
“I should be.”
“Why?”
“Because you can't prove anything.”
Dominic's expression became colder.
“That's where you're wrong.”
He held up Catherine's letter.
“My mother left instructions.”
“For what?”
“To protect Natalie.”
Brooke frowned.
“From me?”
“No.”
Dominic looked toward the bedroom door.
“From whoever tried to steal her inheritance.”
The following morning, Dominic summoned everyone to the library.
Natalie arrived first.
She looked nervous.
Noah stayed beside her.
Emma stood near the window.
Brooke sat opposite Dominic.
For the first time, she wasn't wearing designer confidence.
She looked exhausted.
Dominic placed a thick legal folder on the table.
“Natalie, I owe you an apology.”
She looked surprised.
“For what?”
“For not asking enough questions.”
Natalie shook her head.
“You were busy.”
“No.”
Dominic looked at her.
“I was trusting the wrong person.”
Brooke shifted in her chair.
Natalie glanced at her.
“What is happening?”
Dominic opened the folder.
“This is Catherine's original trust agreement.”
Natalie stared at the first page.
“I thought the lawyers had it.”
“They did.”
“Then why is this here?”
“Because my mother kept a second copy.”
He slid it toward her.
Natalie read.
Her hands began shaking.
“What does this mean?”
Dominic pointed to a paragraph.
“The eastern cottage cannot be sold, transferred, mortgaged, or occupied by a spouse of mine unless you approve it.”
Natalie looked up.
“Why?”
“Because Mom knew that after her death, someone might try to separate you from the property.”
Brooke suddenly spoke.
“That clause is ridiculous.”
Dominic looked at her.
“You've read it?”
“I've seen it.”
“When?”
She hesitated.
“Before.”
“When?”
“I don't remember.”
Dominic leaned back.
“Interesting.”
Noah had been silent.
He looked at the document.
“Does this mean Mom gets to stay?”
Dominic smiled.
“Yes.”
Noah's shoulders relaxed.
“Forever?”
“As long as the trust remains.”
Noah smiled.
Brooke watched him.
Then said quietly:
“You're all making this much bigger than it is.”
Natalie turned.
“You told Noah I was leaving.”
Brooke looked away.
“I was angry.”
“You told him Catherine's house would be yours.”
“I didn't mean it.”
“You threatened Emma.”
Brooke's eyes snapped toward her.
“You told him?”
Emma remained silent.
Dominic answered.
“I already knew.”
Brooke's face tightened.
“How?”
“Because you made the mistake of threatening someone who knows how to document everything.”
Emma looked at Dominic.
He nodded slightly.
She understood.
He had been protecting her.
Dominic stood.
“The wedding is postponed.”
Brooke's head lifted.
“No.”
“Yes.”
“You can't do this.”
“I can.”
“We've invited four hundred people.”
“Then they'll be told.”
“My family is already flying in.”
“They can fly home.”
“You'll humiliate me.”
Dominic stared at her.
“You humiliated yourself.”
Brooke stood.
“You promised me.”
“I promised to marry you.”
“Yes.”
“Not to surrender my family.”
Brooke's voice cracked.
“You don't love me.”
Dominic was silent.
Then:
“I don't know if I ever did.”
Her eyes filled with tears.
She turned toward Natalie.
“This is what you wanted.”
Natalie looked confused.
“What?”
“You've always hated me.”
“I barely knew you.”
“You poisoned him against me.”
“No.”
“You took my future.”
Natalie shook her head.
“I didn't take anything.”
Brooke's voice became bitter.
“You took everything.”
Dominic stepped between them.
“Enough.”
Brooke stared at him.
“You're choosing her.”
“Yes.”
“Over me?”
“Yes.”
The answer came without hesitation.
Brooke's face crumpled.
Then she whispered:
“You'll regret this.”
Dominic looked at her.
“Maybe.”
He opened the library door.
“But you'll regret what happens next.”
That afternoon, Dominic met with his attorney, Richard Vale.
Richard placed three folders on the desk.
“The first contains the trust records.”
“The second?”
“Financial transfers.”
“And the third?”
Richard hesitated.
“The original death investigation.”
Dominic looked up.
“My father's death.”
“Yes.”
“You found it?”
“I found something better.”
Richard opened the folder.
A photograph.
Dominic's father standing beside Marcus Hale.
Dominic stared at it.
“When was this taken?”
“Two days before your father's death.”
Dominic frowned.
“Marcus told everyone he hadn't seen him for months.”
“That's the first lie.”
Richard turned the page.
A second photograph.
Marcus entering a private bank.
Then another.
A third photograph.
Catherine following him.
Dominic's heart tightened.
“My mother knew.”
“Yes.”
“She confronted him.”
Richard nodded.
“Three days before she died.”
Dominic looked at him.
“Do you think Marcus killed my mother?”
“No.”
“Then who?”
Richard closed the folder.
“That is what we're trying to determine.”
That night, Dominic returned to the eastern cottage.
Natalie was packing Noah's school bag.
“Mom?”
“Yes?”
“Are we really staying?”
Natalie smiled.
“Yes.”
Noah looked toward Dominic.
“Uncle Dominic?”
“Yes?”
“Thank you.”
Dominic crouched.
“You don't have to thank me.”
Noah hugged him.
Dominic closed his eyes.
For a moment, he forgot about Brooke.
Forgot about Marcus.
Forgot about the trust.
He was simply Noah's uncle.
Then Noah whispered:
“Uncle Dominic?”
“Hmm?”
“Grandma told me something before she died.”
Dominic's smile disappeared.
“What?”
Noah looked around.
“Can I tell you privately?”
Dominic nodded.
They walked outside.
Rain had begun falling again.
“What did Grandma say?”
Noah looked at the cottage.
“She told me never to let Brooke find the blue room.”
Dominic froze.
“What blue room?”
“I don't know.”
“Did she tell you where it is?”
Noah shook his head.
“She said you would know when the time came.”
Dominic looked toward the mansion.
His mother had never mentioned a blue room.
Not once.
Then he remembered something.
The old architectural plans.
The eastern cottage had been renovated twenty years ago.
There was a room on the original plans that no longer appeared on modern blueprints.
A room beneath the library.
A hidden room.
Dominic looked at Noah.
“Did Grandma give you anything?”
Noah nodded.
He reached inside his backpack.
He pulled out a tiny brass key.
Dominic stared.
“Where did you get that?”
“Grandma gave it to me.”
“When?”
“The day before she died.”
Dominic took the key.
On it was a tiny engraving.
C.M.
Catherine Mercer.
His mother had left Noah a key.
Not him.
Noah.
And suddenly Dominic understood.
His mother hadn't trusted her adult children with her final secret.
She had trusted the one person nobody would suspect.
A nine-year-old boy.
That same night, Brooke stood in a hotel room across town.
Marcus Hale sat at the table.
“You said Dominic wouldn't be back.”
“He wasn't supposed to be.”
“You failed.”
Brooke's eyes flashed.
“You're blaming me?”
“I'm telling you the truth.”
“You told me the trust was unsecured.”
“It was.”
“Then why did Catherine leave another copy?”
Marcus looked at her.
“Because Catherine was smarter than both of us.”
Brooke poured herself a drink.
“What now?”
“We leave.”
“No.”
Marcus frowned.
“What?”
“I'm not leaving.”
“You don't understand.”
“I understand perfectly.”
She placed the glass down.
“I was supposed to marry Dominic on Saturday.”
“That marriage is finished.”
“Maybe.”
Marcus stared at her.
“What are you planning?”
Brooke smiled.
“I'm going back.”
“Back where?”
“The mansion.”
“Dominic will have security everywhere.”
“I don't need to get into the mansion.”
Marcus frowned.
“Then what?”
Brooke picked up her phone.
“I only need Natalie to leave it.”
The next morning, Natalie received a message.
From an unknown number.
You should ask Dominic why Catherine changed her will three days before she died.
Natalie stared at the screen.
A second message arrived.
Your brother knows what happened.
Then a photograph.
Catherine standing outside a hospital.
Beside her was a man Natalie had never seen before.
But Dominic knew him immediately when Natalie showed him.
His face went cold.
“Who is he?”
Dominic took the phone.
He stared at the photograph.
Then whispered:
“My father's brother.”
Natalie frowned.
“I thought he was dead.”
“So did I.”
Another message arrived.
Ask Dominic who really inherited Catherine's trust.
Dominic looked at Natalie.
His mind raced.
The trust wasn't the end of the story.
It was only the beginning.
He opened Catherine's original agreement again.
This time, he noticed something he had missed.
A handwritten notation in the margin.
Three words.
Not the final trust.
Dominic's heart stopped.
His mother had created another trust.
One nobody knew about.
Not Natalie.
Not him.
Not Brooke.
And apparently, someone had already begun searching for it.
Dominic looked toward the eastern cottage.
Then toward the hidden key in his hand.
The blue room.
The secret trust.
His father's death.
Marcus Hale.
And Brooke.
They were connected.
He could feel it.
But before he could speak, every light in the mansion went out.
A second later, the security alarm screamed.
Emma came running down the corridor.
“Dominic!”
“What happened?”
“The east wing.”
“What about it?”
“Someone broke in.”
Dominic reached for his gun.
“Who?”
Emma's face was white.
“They didn't steal anything.”
“Then what did they take?”
Emma swallowed.
“The key.”
Dominic looked down.
His hand was empty.
The brass key was gone.
And from somewhere upstairs came a woman's voice.
Soft.
Almost playful.
“You should have listened when I told you to trust me, Dominic.”
Brooke.
May you like
She had never left.
And now she had Catherine's key.
