The attorney answered on the second ring.
“Elijah?”
I stared at the security monitor while Beatrice’s frozen smile stared back at me.
“Marcus,” I said, “before I explain anything, tell me whether anyone has changed my trust.”
There was a pause.
Not a confused pause.
A careful one.
“No,” Marcus Reed said.
“And now I need you to tell me why you’re asking.”
My knees nearly weakened.
Tony pulled the office chair toward me, but I remained standing.
“Has Beatrice contacted you?”
Another pause.
“She emailed my office nine days ago.”
I closed my eyes.
“What did she want?”
“She asked for clean copies of the current trust documents, your company succession schedule, and the amendment forms we discussed years ago.
She said you wanted to simplify things after Terrence’s wedding.”
“I never told her that.”
“I know.”
That answer stopped me.
Marcus continued.
“I replied that I needed direct authorization from you before releasing anything involving control provisions.
I never received it.”
I remembered seeing his name buried in my inbox during wedding week.
I had assumed it was routine correspondence and never opened it.
“Nothing has moved?” I asked.
“Nothing through my office.”
“What about something Beatrice prepares herself?”
“She can prepare paper all day.
That doesn’t give her control.”
I looked at Tony.
He could hear only my side of the conversation, but he understood from my face that something had shifted.
Marcus lowered his voice.
“Elijah, where are you?”
“The Gilded Oak.”
“The wedding venue?”
“Yes.”
“What happened?”
I looked at the monitor again.
“I’m watching my wife explain to my daughter-in-law how they expect to move me out of my own financial life.”
Silence.
Then Marcus said, “Do not confront anyone yet.
Get a copy of whatever you’re watching.
Preserve the original.
Then come see me.”
I ended the call.
Tony was already reaching for an external drive.
“I can preserve the original system file and make a duplicate,” he said.
“The timestamp stays with it.”
“Do that.”
He nodded.
Then I pointed at the screen.
“And play the rest.”
Tony sat down.
The video resumed.
