Chapter 7: The Guardian
Rebecca Price stood beneath the flickering emergency light with a file pressed against her chest.
Jasmine stared at her.
“You're Eleanor Price's daughter?””
Rebecca nodded.
“She was my mother.””
Marcus took one step toward her.
“I thought you said your mother was dead.””
“She is.””
“You said she was supposed to meet me.””
“She was.””
Rebecca's eyes moved to the scattered papers on the floor.
“She never made it.””
Adrian felt the room tighten around them.
“Then how do you know what happened?””
Rebecca looked directly at him.
“Because my mother left me everything she was afraid to tell the police.””
Darren's face had gone completely still.
Rebecca noticed.
“You recognize me.””
Darren said nothing.
She smiled without warmth.
“You should.””
Jasmine looked between them.
“What does any of this have to do with me?””
Rebecca opened the file.
“Everything.””
She pulled out a photocopy.
“This is your grandfather's original trust agreement.””
Jasmine stepped closer.
Rebecca handed it to her.
Jasmine read the first page.
Then the second.
Her eyebrows pulled together.
“I don't understand.””
Adrian took the document.
He read it.
His heart began pounding.
Rebecca pointed to a paragraph.
“Your grandfather didn't name your mother as guardian.””
Monique closed her eyes.
“He named me,” Rebecca said.
Jasmine looked up.
“You?””
“Yes.””
Marcus frowned.
“Why?””
“Because my mother was his attorney.””
Rebecca turned another page.
“He believed Monique was too emotionally dependent on Marcus. He believed Marcus was financially unstable. And he didn't trust either of them to control your inheritance.””
Monique whispered, “My father hated me.””
“He didn't hate you,” Rebecca said.
“He was afraid for you.””
Jasmine shook her head.
“Then why was Adrian's name on that document?””
Rebecca looked at Adrian.
“That is the part everyone got wrong.””
Adrian's voice was rough.
“I never signed that.””
“You did.””
“No.””
“You signed a different document.””
Adrian stared at her.
Rebecca continued.
“Your signature was copied from a legitimate property authorization. Darren used it to create a second document.””
Darren finally spoke.
“You can't prove that.””
Rebecca looked at him.
“I don't have to.””
She opened another folder.
“My mother did.””
Inside were photographs of documents, bank records, handwritten notes, and audio transcripts.
Rebecca held up one page.
“She documented every suspicious transaction.””
Darren's face hardened.
“She was obsessed.””
“She was murdered.””
The room went silent.
Rebecca's voice didn't shake.
“The night she disappeared, she called me.””
Adrian stared.
“What did she say?””
Rebecca looked at him.
“She said, ‘If I don't come home, find Adrian Cole.’”
Adrian's breath caught.
“Why me?””
“Because she believed you were the only person who could raise Jasmine without being controlled by the people behind the trust.””
Marcus looked confused.
“Then why did she never tell me?””
“She tried.””
Rebecca's gaze shifted toward Darren.
“He stopped her.””
Darren took a step backward.
Marcus moved toward him.
“Don't.””
Darren stopped.
Jasmine looked at Rebecca.
“What people?””
Rebecca hesitated.
“Your grandfather's business partners.””
“Which ones?””
“One of them was Darren.””
Jasmine looked at Darren.
He didn't blink.
“The other,” Rebecca said, “was your grandfather's financial adviser.””
Adrian's face changed.
“Who?””
Rebecca slowly said the name.
“Calvin Reed.””
Adrian knew it.
Calvin had been at the company for decades.
He had been there when Adrian first met Monique.
He had attended Jasmine's christening.
He had even spoken at her high school graduation.
Adrian's stomach turned.
“He's dead.””
Rebecca nodded.
“Three years ago.””
“So they're all gone.””
“No.””
Rebecca looked at Darren.
“Not all.””
Darren suddenly reached for the file.
Marcus grabbed his wrist.
Darren struggled.
“You don't understand what you're doing!””
Marcus shoved him against the wall.
“You're done.””
Darren laughed.
“You think I'm the worst person in this room?””
Marcus froze.
Darren looked at Monique.
“Tell them.””
Monique's face went white.
“Tell them what?””
“That night.””
Adrian turned toward her.
“What happened the night Marcus disappeared?””
Monique shook her head.
“I can't.””
“You can,” Rebecca said.
Monique looked at Jasmine.
“I thought Marcus was going to take you.””
Marcus stared.
“I told you I wasn't.””
“You had the suitcase.””
“Because I was leaving alone.””
“You told me you'd never come back.””
“I said I couldn't.””
Jasmine looked at her mother.
“Why did you think Dad was taking me?””
Monique's voice broke.
“Because Darren told me.””
Adrian turned sharply.
“Darren told you Marcus was going to take Jasmine?””
“Yes.””
“And you believed him?””
“I was terrified.””
Rebecca stepped forward.
“Darren wasn't protecting you.””
“He said Marcus had threatened to take Jasmine and disappear.””
“He lied.””
Monique nodded through tears.
“I know that now.””
Marcus looked at her.
“You let me leave believing you hated me.””
“I thought you'd come back.””
“I couldn't.””
“Why?””
Marcus's face hardened.
“Because Darren had men waiting outside.””
Jasmine looked at him.
“You were watched?””
“Yes.””
“Every year?””
Marcus nodded.
“Every birthday?””
“Yes.””
“Every graduation?””
He swallowed.
“Yes.””
Jasmine began crying.
“You saw me?””
“From far away.””
“Why didn't you come?””
“Because every time I got close, I was reminded what would happen if I did.””
Adrian stared at him.
“You should have told me.””
Marcus looked down.
“I didn't know if I could trust you.””
Adrian's expression hardened.
“After everything I did?””
“I know.””
“Then why come back now?””
Marcus looked at Jasmine.
“Because she graduated.””
Rebecca answered for him.
“Because the trust matured today.””
Jasmine looked at the papers.
“What happens now?””
Rebecca took a final document from the file.
“The trust becomes fully accessible.””
Darren's face changed.
“No.””
Rebecca looked at him.
“Yes.””
Darren shook his head.
“You don't understand. There are liabilities.””
“Fake liabilities,” Rebecca said.
“You can't unwind fourteen years.””
“No.””
She smiled.
“But I can unwind the fraud.””
Darren's breathing became heavier.
Adrian looked at the document.
“What does Jasmine inherit?””
Rebecca hesitated.
“Everything your grandfather left.””
“How much?””
“After the stolen funds are recovered?””
Rebecca looked at Jasmine.
“Approximately six-point-eight million dollars.””
Jasmine staggered backward.
“No.””
Monique whispered, “Oh, God.””
Darren suddenly lunged for the file.
Marcus caught him.
They crashed into a table.
The documents scattered again.
Jasmine screamed.
Adrian grabbed her and pulled her away.
Darren shoved Marcus aside and ran for the stairs.
Rebecca shouted, “Stop him!””
Adrian moved.
But before he could reach the stairs, the warehouse doors opened.
Police officers rushed inside.
Darren stopped dead.
One officer raised his weapon.
“Darren Cole! Put your hands where we can see them!””
Darren slowly raised his hands.
Then he looked at Adrian.
“You think this is over?””
Adrian said nothing.
Darren smiled.
“You still don't know what Adrian signed that night.””
He glanced at Jasmine.
“And neither does she.””
The officer handcuffed him.
As Darren was led away, Jasmine turned toward Adrian.
“What did you sign?””
Adrian looked at the old document in his hand.
He had spent fourteen years believing his life had simply unfolded by chance.
Now he realized someone had been writing it for him.
Rebecca stepped beside him.
“There is one more document.””
She handed him a sealed envelope.
Adrian stared at the handwriting.
It was his.
But he didn't remember writing it.
Rebecca whispered, “Your signature is real.””
Adrian looked up.
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“What does that mean?””
“It means you knew more than you think.””