Chapter 5 - The Petition
Grant stood at the end of the corridor with his hands visible.
Daniel moved toward him.
“If you come near my daughter—”
“I didn’t take her.”
“You rigged the cake.”
“I did not.”
“The cord ended where you were standing.”
Grant looked genuinely confused. “What cord?”
Daniel almost hit him.
Instead, Vanessa stepped between them again.
“Grant, tell him.”
Grant’s face hardened.
“The petition was my idea.”
Daniel laughed without humor.
“Great start.”
“You put everything into the Mercer Family Trust after Sarah died. Your company shares. The house. The children’s inheritance.”
Daniel said nothing.
Grant continued. “Vanessa was worried that if something happened to you, your brother would challenge her right to keep the kids together.”
“My brother lives in Seattle and has met Vanessa twice.”
“That’s what the attorney said could happen.”
“What attorney?”
Grant looked away.
“Martin Crowe.”
Daniel knew the name.
Crowe had been Sarah’s cousin.
He had also sued Daniel two years earlier over Sarah’s estate—and lost.
Vanessa stared between them. “You know him?”
Daniel’s voice dropped.
“He tried to take Emma’s trust after Sarah died.”
Vanessa went pale.
Grant cursed under his breath.
Daniel pulled out his phone and called his own attorney.
“Nathan, I need every filing under my name, Vanessa’s name, Emma Mercer, Noah Mercer, and the Mercer Family Trust. Right now.”
Nathan Brooks did not ask why.
“I’ll call you back in five.”
He called in three.
“Daniel, listen carefully. Vanessa signed more than a guardianship petition.”
Daniel looked at her.
“What else?”
“A temporary consent to financial management in the event of incapacity.”
Vanessa whispered, “No. I didn’t.”
Nathan kept talking.
“It carries your electronic signature too.”
Daniel’s jaw tightened.
“I never signed anything.”
“I know.”
“Then it’s forged.”
Nathan went quiet for half a second.
“There’s another problem.”
“What?”
“The filing says you were diagnosed with early-onset cognitive impairment last month.”
Daniel stared at the wall.
Across from him, Grant slowly sat down.
Vanessa whispered, “That’s impossible.”
May you like
Nathan answered through the speaker.
“Maybe. But somebody has a doctor’s letter saying otherwise.”
