Chapter 3 - the will Richard said never existed
Samuel Price was eighty-two.
Retired.
Sharp-minded.
And furious when Rebecca Sloan reached him.
“I wondered when this would finally surface.”
Audrey sat across from him the next morning.
“What surfaced?”
Samuel opened an old leather portfolio.
“Your grandfather Charles Bennett executed a revised will eighteen months before his death.”
Audrey stared.
“Dad told us Grandpa never changed anything.”
“He lied.”
No hesitation.
No politeness.
Samuel continued.
“The revised estate left your father liquid assets and a substantial ownership interest in Bennett Construction.”
“What did it leave me?”
“The Ridge properties.”
“Why?”
“Because you spent summers with Charles.”
Audrey remembered.
Her grandfather taught her drafting.
Took her to job sites.
Told her land was never valuable because of dirt.
“It’s valuable because of what people imagine can stand on it.”
She swallowed.
“What about Ethan?”
“A separate investment account.”
“Claudia?”
“An education trust and one residential property.”
“So everyone inherited.”
“Yes.”
“Then why would Dad hide mine?”
Samuel’s expression hardened.
“Control.”
Of course.
“Did Grandpa explain why?”
“Yes.”
Charles believed Richard was becoming overly speculative.
He worried his son would sell long-held family land to cover construction-company debt.
The Ridge parcels were removed from Richard’s reach deliberately.
Samuel produced a certified copy.
Audrey Bennett — beneficiary.
No ambiguity.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
Samuel looked ashamed.
“I tried.”
“When?”
“After Charles died.”
Audrey remembered Samuel requesting a meeting.
Richard told her it was “boring probate nonsense” and said he would handle everything.
She was twenty-nine.
Building a business with David.
Trusting her father.
“I didn’t come.”
“No.”
“Then?”
“Your father later produced a family settlement agreement purportedly signed by all beneficiaries.”
Audrey’s jaw tightened.
“My signature was forged.”
“That is my belief.”
“Why didn’t you challenge it?”
“I did.”
“What happened?”
“Richard produced a notarized acknowledgment.”
Audrey stared.
“Who notarized it?”
Samuel closed the folder.
“Teresa.”
Audrey’s mother.
Teresa had once been a commissioned notary for Richard’s company.
The betrayal widened.
Rebecca asked:
“Did you verify Audrey appeared?”
Samuel shook his head.
“Teresa swore she did.”
Audrey felt sick.
Her own mother notarized a false signature.
Samuel continued:
“I filed an objection. Richard threatened litigation. Then something happened.”
“What?”
“My office was burglarized.”
Audrey went still.
“Were the originals taken?”
“One set.”
“But not all.”
“No.”
Samuel smiled faintly.
“Your grandfather distrusted single copies.”
So did David, apparently.
“What did you do?”
“I moved the remaining originals to a private vault.”
“Did Dad know?”
“He suspected.”
“Did David contact you?”
“Yes.”
Audrey leaned forward.
“When?”
“Five weeks ago.”
“What did he say?”
“He said Richard had approached him about selling the Ridge parcels.”
“David didn’t own them.”
“He knew that.”
“Then why approach him?”
“Because Richard thought you would sign whatever David recommended.”
Audrey’s chest tightened.
Richard had not only underestimated her.
He had planned to use her marriage.
Samuel continued.
“David became suspicious when Richard presented an ownership summary that did not match county archives.”
“What did David do?”
“He called me.”
“Did you show him the will?”
“I showed him enough.”
“Why not everything?”
“Because he wanted to tell you himself after gathering proof of the forged settlement.”
Audrey looked away.
Another person withholding truth “until everything was ready.”
Maybe reasonable.
Still painful.
“Did David get the second will?”
“A certified copy.”
“Where is it?”
“He said he placed it somewhere Richard could not reach.”
The encrypted drive.
Possibly.
Then Samuel said:
“There’s another reason the properties matter now.”
“What?”
“Ridge Parcel Three is no longer ordinary land.”
Audrey frowned.
“What happened?”
“A transportation authority announced a preliminary route study last month.”
Rebecca immediately understood.
“Infrastructure?”
Samuel nodded.
“If the route is approved, the land could become strategically valuable.”
“How valuable?”
Samuel hesitated.
“Potentially tens of millions.”
Audrey stared.
Richard’s threat after the funeral:
We’ll be back for the property deeds.
Not grief.
Not entitlement.
Urgency.
He needed control before Audrey understood value.
Then Rebecca’s phone rang.
Police.
The Mercedes had been recovered.
Inside the trunk, officers found a document case Ethan claimed belonged to him.
It did not.
Audrey recognized David’s initials embossed on the leather.
DMB.
David Michael Bennett.
Her husband’s case.
“How did Ethan get that?”
No one knew yet.
It had not been inside the Mercedes when Audrey drove home from the funeral.
Which meant Ethan put it there.
Inside were photocopies of property valuations.
A draft deed.
And a handwritten note from David:
IF RICHARD PUSHES AFTER I’M GONE, AUDREY NEEDS TO KNOW WHY HE NEEDS PARCEL THREE BEFORE SEPTEMBER.
September was three weeks away.
Below that:
ASK CLAUDIA ABOUT NORTHSTAR LOGISTICS.
Audrey stared.
Claudia had not mentioned Northstar.
Rebecca searched the company.
Northstar Logistics Development.
A private infrastructure and warehousing firm.
Buyer on a preliminary contract for Parcel Three.
Seller listed:
Richard Bennett.
Purchase price:
$8.5 million.
But Richard did not own it.
Audrey did.
And according to Samuel’s estimates, its strategic value could be several times higher.
Then Rebecca found the scheduled closing date.
September 1.
May you like
Richard had less than three weeks to manufacture legal control of land he had already promised to sell.
👉 Richard had secretly contracted to sell Audrey’s land for $8.5 million before she even knew she owned it—and the closing deadline was only weeks away.
