Chapter 8 - The Sealed Trust
Emily’s breath caught in her throat. "What? Who would pay him to do that?"
Vincent pulled a thin leather folder from his inner pocket and handed it to her. "Marco spent the last seventy-two hours auditing Sterling’s private offshore accounts. The monthly payments didn't come from a rival mob or a local gang. They came from a law firm in Boston."
Emily opened the file under the balcony light. Inside were wire transfer receipts stretching back forty-eight months, all originating from an entity called Vance & Associates.
"My maiden name was Vance," Emily whispered, her voice trembling violently as she read the legal headers. "My father... my father was Arthur Vance."
"Arthur Vance was a senior partner at that firm," Vincent confirmed, stepping closer to her. "When he died five years ago, his estate was valued at forty million dollars. His will stated that his entire fortune was to be inherited by his only child, Emily, upon her thirtieth birthday."
Emily gasped, covering her mouth as tears spilled over her lashes. "I turned twenty-nine three months ago..."
May you like
"Exactly," Vincent said, his eyes burning with quiet fury. "If you died or were declared unfit before your thirtieth birthday, the entire forty million dollars reverted to the secondary trustee—Arthur’s former legal partner, Harrison Vance."
The terrifying truth laid itself bare before her. Harrison Vance, her father's brother, had systematically tracked her down, hired David Sterling to starve her and work her to death, hoping she would succumb to illness or desperation before she could claim her birthright.
