Chapter 6 - The Dead Signature

Oscar placed the printout beside an old tax return.

“Look at the B.”

Jared leaned over the table.

On the forged trust form, Oscar’s last name began with a large looping B. On the tax return from twelve years earlier, the loop matched almost perfectly.

Oscar tapped the page.

“I changed my signature after my hand surgery. The B has been straight since then.”

Lauren said, “You’re guessing.”

Oscar opened a drawer and pulled out recent checks.

Straight B. Straight B. Straight B.

Jared’s face tightened.

“Lauren.”

She looked away.

“Did you sign my father’s name?”

“No.”

“Did Martin?”

“I don’t know.”

Oscar folded his arms. “That answer means you know enough to be scared of the truth.”

Lauren’s phone buzzed again.

She did not touch it.

Jared downloaded the trust document. It claimed Oscar was suffering from “progressive cognitive impairment” and had voluntarily appointed North Harbor to manage financial support on his behalf.

Oscar read the sentence twice.

For the first time that afternoon, anger broke through his control.

“They called me incompetent.”

Jared said, “Dad—”

“No.” Oscar pointed to the paper. “Steal from me, I’ll follow the money. Lie about me, I’ll prove the lie. But this—this is how you make an old man disappear while he’s still alive.”

Lauren’s expression shifted. Something like guilt appeared.

“Oscar, I never wanted that.”

“Then what did you want?”

She said nothing.

Jared called an attorney he trusted from his company. The attorney advised them not to confront Martin, not to destroy anything, and not to access accounts they were not authorized to view.

“Preserve everything,” she said. “Screenshots, statements, messages. And Mr. Blake should check his credit immediately.”

Oscar did.

The first page looked normal.

The second did not.

A line of credit had been opened eighteen months earlier in Oscar’s name.

Limit: $150,000.

Balance: $143,870.

Oscar stared at it.

Jared whispered, “Dad, did you open that?”

“No.”

The listed address was not Oscar’s apartment.

It was a house in Highland Park.

May you like

Billionaire’s Wife Kicked a Waitress in Front of 300 Elites—One Slap Exp...

The billionaire’s wife tried to kick a waitress in the face in front of 300 wealthy guests. But seconds later, she whispered three...

My Mother Grabbed My Wife by the Hair Over Cold Soup—But What My Father...

My mother grabbed my wife by the hair over a bowl of cold soup. And the most shameful part? For one terrible second, I almost defe...

My Parents Kicked My 6-Year-Old Daughter and Me Out on Christmas—Then I...

My mother kicked my six-year-old daughter out of Christmas dinner, never realizing I was the only reason she still had a house to...

Jared knew that address.

Lauren’s mother lived there.