{"id":9923,"date":"2026-09-12T19:28:14","date_gmt":"2026-09-12T19:28:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/?p=9923"},"modified":"2026-09-12T19:28:14","modified_gmt":"2026-09-12T19:28:14","slug":"part-6-victorias-parting-warning-led-me-back-to-the-beginning-where-one-missing-signature-changed-everything-i-believed-about-westside","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/?p=9923","title":{"rendered":"PART 6 \u2013 Victoria\u2019s Parting Warning Led Me Back to the Beginning, Where One Missing Signature Changed Everything I Believed About Westside"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>I did not confront Eric in the driveway.<\/p>\n<p>That surprised him.<\/p>\n<p>I could tell by the way he watched me as we settled everyone into vehicles.<\/p>\n<p>Noah rode with Steven and Amanda. Police remained behind to speak with Victoria. Marcus returned to Westside to coordinate preservation of the hidden room.<\/p>\n<p>Eric and I drove back to my house alone.<\/p>\n<p>For the first ten minutes, neither of us spoke.<\/p>\n<p>Rain moved across the windshield in slow sheets.<\/p>\n<p>Finally Eric said, \u201cYou\u2019re waiting.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor what?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor you to decide whether you\u2019re going to tell me before I ask.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>His hands tightened on the steering wheel.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat\u2019s dramatic.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cVictoria knew which question would make you afraid.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m not afraid.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou\u2019re gripping the wheel hard enough to leave fingerprints in the leather.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He loosened his hands.<\/p>\n<p>I looked out the side window.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWho created Elizabeth Bennett Holdings?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYour husband.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I turned toward him.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMargaret?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>My husband\u2019s name still changed the air around me even after nine years.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat are you saying?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe entity existed before you bought Westside.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I stared at him.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat\u2019s impossible.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou formed it for me after Margaret died.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI reactivated it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The distinction hit me instantly.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Eric exhaled.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause that was what he instructed.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I felt something cold settle between my ribs.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cInstructed when?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBefore he got sick.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I looked at him.<\/p>\n<p>Margaret\u2019s illness had moved quickly. Cancer. Eight months from diagnosis to funeral.<\/p>\n<p>Those months had been filled with hospitals, medication schedules, financial planning and the kind of exhausted hope that shrinks life down to one day at a time.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat did he create it for?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Eric hesitated.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor Westside.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The road seemed to tilt.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe wanted to buy the property.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I could barely process the sentence.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMargaret knew about Westside?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I remembered the lakeside afternoon.<\/p>\n<p>His hand pointing toward the hill.<\/p>\n<p>Beautiful place for an oak tree.<\/p>\n<p>At the time I thought it had been a passing comment.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe wanted the house?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe wanted the land.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy didn\u2019t you tell me?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause he told me not to unless certain conditions were met.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I stared at him.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat conditions?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf you ever became involved with the property yourself.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>My breath caught.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou\u2019re telling me that when I came to you six years ago and asked you to help me buy Westside\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI already knew exactly what it was.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEric.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo. You don\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Anger finally arrived.<\/p>\n<p>Not the controlled anger I had felt toward Victoria.<\/p>\n<p>This was grief sharpened into betrayal.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou let me believe I chose it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou did choose it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAfter my husband had already created a company connected to it?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe never bought the property.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut he planned to.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Eric turned into my driveway.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think you should see the file.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat file?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMargaret\u2019s.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I stared at him.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou still have documents I\u2019ve never seen?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He parked but did not switch off the engine.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI followed his instructions.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor nine years.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat else did he tell you not to tell me?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Eric looked exhausted.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLess than you\u2019re imagining. More than you\u2019re going to like.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I got out of the car without answering.<\/p>\n<p>Inside, Steven and Amanda were sitting in my living room.<\/p>\n<p>Noah had fallen asleep under a blanket with his head against Steven\u2019s thigh.<\/p>\n<p>Amanda looked up when I entered.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou okay?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She nodded as if that answer made sense.<\/p>\n<p>Steven looked between Eric and me.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat happened?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNothing you need to deal with yet.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMom\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSteven.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He stopped.<\/p>\n<p>I went into the study.<\/p>\n<p>Eric followed and closed the door.<\/p>\n<p>Then he opened his briefcase.<\/p>\n<p>The folder was thin.<\/p>\n<p>That somehow made it worse.<\/p>\n<p>MARGARET BENNETT \u2014 PRIVATE INSTRUCTIONS.<\/p>\n<p>I stared at the label.<\/p>\n<p>Eric placed it on my desk.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI have not opened this file since the day you purchased Westside.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>My hands felt numb.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou knew then?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI suspected you were about to trigger the instructions.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTrigger.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He winced.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPoor word choice.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I opened the file.<\/p>\n<p>The first page was dated twelve years earlier.<\/p>\n<p>Three years before Margaret died.<\/p>\n<p>It was a corporate formation document for Elizabeth Bennett Holdings LLC.<\/p>\n<p>Organizer: Eric Reynolds.<\/p>\n<p>Beneficial interest: Margaret Bennett.<\/p>\n<p>I looked up.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy use my middle name?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPrivacy.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I kept reading.<\/p>\n<p>A letter came next.<\/p>\n<p>Not typed.<\/p>\n<p>Handwritten.<\/p>\n<p>Margaret\u2019s handwriting.<\/p>\n<p>I knew every curve.<\/p>\n<p>Every slant.<\/p>\n<p>The sight of it was almost physical.<\/p>\n<p>Betty\u2014<\/p>\n<p>If Eric is giving you this, then somehow Westside has found its way back into our lives.<\/p>\n<p>I stopped.<\/p>\n<p>I could not read further.<\/p>\n<p>Eric turned toward the window to give me privacy.<\/p>\n<p>I began again.<\/p>\n<p>Margaret wrote that he had discovered the property years earlier through a failed development deal. He had wanted to buy it quietly and turn part of the land into a long-term family trust.<\/p>\n<p>Not a mansion.<\/p>\n<p>Not an investment trophy.<\/p>\n<p>A place that could never be leveraged against the family.<\/p>\n<p>A protected asset.<\/p>\n<p>He had been working with Eric to establish a trust structure when his illness began.<\/p>\n<p>Then he abandoned the purchase.<\/p>\n<p>He believed medical costs and uncertainty made it irresponsible.<\/p>\n<p>But he left the company intact.<\/p>\n<p>Just in case.<\/p>\n<p>The final paragraph hurt most.<\/p>\n<p>If one day you decide Westside matters, trust yourself. But do not let Steven use it as collateral. He carries my worst weakness: when he is ashamed, he hides. Hidden problems become expensive problems.<\/p>\n<p>I lowered the letter.<\/p>\n<p>Eric remained silent.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe knew.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe knew Steven would do this.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNot this exactly.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe knew his character.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe knew all of us better than we realized.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I laughed once, bitterly.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe knew enough to warn me from the grave, and I still did exactly what he feared.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou protected Steven.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI protected him into incompetence.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat\u2019s too harsh.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIs it?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I gestured toward the living room.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe signed documents without reading them because he was ashamed to ask for help.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat part is on him.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd I built the environment that made hiding possible.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Eric said nothing.<\/p>\n<p>I turned another page.<\/p>\n<p>There was a draft family trust agreement.<\/p>\n<p>Westside was named specifically.<\/p>\n<p>My breath caught.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat is this?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe structure Margaret hoped to use.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Beneficiaries: Betty Bennett, Steven Bennett, and descendants.<\/p>\n<p>Restrictions: property not to be pledged without unanimous trustee consent.<\/p>\n<p>I looked up.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis would have prevented the fraudulent loans.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy didn\u2019t you tell me when I bought the estate?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause you told me you wanted Steven to have the dignity of independence. You rejected the trust structure.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI didn\u2019t know this version existed.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou rejected any trust.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I remembered.<\/p>\n<p>Six years earlier.<\/p>\n<p>Eric had advised stronger protections.<\/p>\n<p>I had said no.<\/p>\n<p>I wanted simple ownership.<\/p>\n<p>No legal mechanism that made Steven feel supervised.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGod.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I covered my face.<\/p>\n<p>Eric sat opposite me.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe can still establish one after this is resolved.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf we still own the property.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou do.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSomeone forged a purchase agreement.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA forged agreement does not transfer valid title by magic.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat if they filed something?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re checking.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>My heart began beating faster.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou haven\u2019t checked already?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe checked the county records yesterday.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere is no completed transfer.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I exhaled.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He gave me a grim look.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere\u2019s a pending electronic filing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I stood.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSubmitted two days ago.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBy whom?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA title company.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhich title company?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNorth Crescent Title.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I had never heard of it.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCan we stop it?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes. We\u2019ve already filed fraud alerts and formal objections.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I looked at the calendar.<\/p>\n<p>The fraudulent closing date had been September 15.<\/p>\n<p>Two weeks away.<\/p>\n<p>But someone had already begun filing.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy move early?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTo create a chain of documents that looks legitimate.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I thought of Victoria\u2019s confidence.<\/p>\n<p>She had not been trying to force me to sell later.<\/p>\n<p>She had been trying to make me irrelevant before I learned the sale was already underway.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat did the pending filing claim?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Eric looked at his notes.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat Elizabeth Bennett Holdings had authorized transfer into an intermediary trust.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat trust?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He hesitated.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMargaret Bennett Family Trust.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>My entire body went cold.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat doesn\u2019t exist.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNot in that form.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey used his name.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I sat slowly.<\/p>\n<p>The fraud was no longer merely financial.<\/p>\n<p>Someone had reached backward into my marriage.<\/p>\n<p>Into my husband\u2019s intentions.<\/p>\n<p>Into private legal plans Victoria should never have known existed.<\/p>\n<p>I looked at Eric.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWho had access to this file?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMe.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo one else?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy former paralegal had limited access years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cName.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRachel Dunn.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhere is she now?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He looked unhappy.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe works for Caldwell Property Solutions.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The answer hit like a physical blow.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor Victoria.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow long?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFour years.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd you never thought that mattered?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe left my firm six years ago. I had no reason to believe she took confidential material.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cUntil now.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cUntil now.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I stood and paced toward the window.<\/p>\n<p>Everything was connecting.<\/p>\n<p>Three years ago, Victoria learned I owned Westside.<\/p>\n<p>Rachel had worked for her for four.<\/p>\n<p>Margaret\u2019s old documents contained Westside, the LLC, the proposed trust, and warnings about Steven.<\/p>\n<p>Victoria had not discovered the truth through public records alone.<\/p>\n<p>Someone had handed her the map.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRachel gave her everything.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe don\u2019t know that yet.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI do.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou suspect.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFine. I strongly suspect.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Eric rubbed his forehead.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere may be attorney-client privilege issues, theft of confidential information, identity fraud, forgery, conspiracy\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cStop listing crimes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou asked for facts.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI asked for a life that made sense.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He went quiet.<\/p>\n<p>That was unfair.<\/p>\n<p>I knew it.<\/p>\n<p>But I was too tired to apologize immediately.<\/p>\n<p>A soft knock came at the study door.<\/p>\n<p>Steven entered.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMom?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPolice want Amanda to give a formal statement.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe should.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe\u2019s scared.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe should be.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He looked down.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCan you come?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I almost said no.<\/p>\n<p>Then I looked at Margaret\u2019s letter.<\/p>\n<p>Hidden problems become expensive problems.<\/p>\n<p>I stood.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>At the station, Amanda spoke for nearly three hours.<\/p>\n<p>I sat outside the interview room with Steven and Noah.<\/p>\n<p>Noah drew planets on printer paper someone had given him.<\/p>\n<p>Steven barely moved.<\/p>\n<p>At one point he whispered, \u201cDo you think she\u2019s going to be arrested?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe helped them.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe was afraid.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDoes that matter?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLegally?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd to me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I looked at him.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThose are different questions.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He stared at the floor.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI still love her.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m also furious.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou can be both.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He nodded.<\/p>\n<p>After another hour, Marcus appeared.<\/p>\n<p>He sat beside me.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe found Rachel Dunn.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhere?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAt the airport.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>My stomach tightened.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLeaving?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTrying to.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhere was she going?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCosta Rica.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Steven looked up.<\/p>\n<p>Marcus continued.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe had two encrypted drives and roughly sixty thousand dollars in cash.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat sounds innocent,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n<p>He almost smiled.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe\u2019s being questioned.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid she say anything?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOne thing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen they asked why she was leaving, she said, \u2018Victoria told me this was over.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I leaned back.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo Victoria knows the plan has failed.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOr thinks it has.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I looked toward the interview room where Amanda was speaking.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Marcus waited.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis isn\u2019t over.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat makes you say that?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cVictoria didn\u2019t panic when police arrived at her house.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe was rattled.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNot enough.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I remembered her expression.<\/p>\n<p>Her final warning.<\/p>\n<p>Ask Eric who created Elizabeth Bennett Holdings.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe wanted us to find Margaret\u2019s file.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Eric frowned.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I looked at him.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause there\u2019s something in it she thinks helps her.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>We drove back to my house after dark.<\/p>\n<p>Noah fell asleep almost immediately.<\/p>\n<p>Amanda remained at the station with counsel.<\/p>\n<p>Steven sat at the kitchen table while Eric and I reopened Margaret\u2019s file.<\/p>\n<p>We went through every page again.<\/p>\n<p>Corporate documents.<\/p>\n<p>Trust drafts.<\/p>\n<p>Letters.<\/p>\n<p>Property notes.<\/p>\n<p>Then Eric stopped.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He counted the pages.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSomething\u2019s missing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>My stomach tightened.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere should be an appendix.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat kind?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA signed option agreement.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I stared at him.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAn option to buy Westside?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSigned by whom?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe former owner.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMargaret had an option?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Eric nodded slowly.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor thirty days.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTwelve years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat expired a decade ago.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThen why does it matter?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He looked at me.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause the option price was four point two million dollars.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The exact amount on the fraudulent sale contract.<\/p>\n<p>I felt the room narrow around me.<\/p>\n<p>Victoria had not invented that number.<\/p>\n<p>She had copied it.<\/p>\n<p>Which meant someone had the missing appendix.<\/p>\n<p>Someone had taken it from Eric\u2019s files.<\/p>\n<p>And somewhere out there, Victoria Caldwell possessed a document connecting my dead husband, my company, and Westside to a four-point-two-million-dollar purchase price.<\/p>\n<p>Steven looked at me.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat can she do with an expired option?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Eric answered before I could.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBy itself? Nothing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd if she alters the dates?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Eric\u2019s face hardened.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThen she could manufacture the appearance that the sale was authorized years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I closed Margaret\u2019s folder.<\/p>\n<p>The fraudulent mortgage attempts had not been the beginning.<\/p>\n<p>The birthday party had not been the beginning.<\/p>\n<p>Even Victoria learning I owned Westside had not been the beginning.<\/p>\n<p>The beginning was twelve years earlier.<\/p>\n<p>And someone had been carrying a piece of it ever since.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<h2><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/?p=9924\">Click here to continue reading: PART 7: The Missing Option Agreement Surfaced in a Bank Vault, Along With Proof That Victoria Had Been Planning Her Final Move for Years<\/a><\/strong><\/h2>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I did not confront Eric in the driveway. That surprised him. I could tell by the way he watched me as we settled everyone into vehicles. Noah rode with Steven &hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9917,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9923","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-insightdrama"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9923","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9923"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9923\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9943,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9923\/revisions\/9943"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/9917"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9923"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9923"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9923"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}