Chapter 5
Melisande’s attorney described the real-estate conversations as harmless planning.
Leander almost believed that explanation.
Couples planning marriage discussed houses.
Melisande wanted something newer.
Leander did not.
That was not a conspiracy.
Then Grant found the proposed prenuptial agreement.
Leander and Melisande had been negotiating it for months.
Most terms were conventional.
Separate premarital assets.
No claim against Leander’s existing companies.
No rights to Caroline’s trust.
A marital-property provision applied only to property purchased after marriage.
Any new primary residence acquired jointly after the wedding would be titled according to the couple’s contributions unless separately negotiated.
One draft suggested fifty-fifty ownership if they purchased a new family home together.
Leander had rejected that provision.
He intended to pay for any replacement property himself and preserve it for his children.
Melisande’s lawyer revised it.
Then revised it again.
The last draft proposed that if the current Royce home were sold after marriage, a portion of Leander’s net proceeds could be contributed toward a jointly owned replacement residence.
Not automatically.
It still required Leander’s consent.
But the pattern was beginning to form.
Melisande wanted the existing house sold.
She wanted the children temporarily away.
She wanted a new residence purchased after the wedding.
Still not proof of abuse for money.
Then Caroline’s old office produced another clue.
Bastian finally gave Leander the key.
Inside the locked desk were old trust correspondence and copies of Caroline’s estate plan.
One folder had obviously been disturbed.
Dust marks showed papers had recently been removed and returned.
Audrey confirmed Melisande entered the room at least twice.
“She said you asked her to inventory Caroline’s papers.”
“I didn’t.”
Leander looked through the trust correspondence.
Several pages had yellow adhesive tabs.
Not Caroline’s.
New.
One highlighted the house-sale provision.
Another highlighted trustee standards for determining whether the residence remained suitable for the children.
Another highlighted authority to pay for residential education if professionally recommended.
Grant looked at the tabs.
May you like
“Somebody has been studying how these provisions interact.”
Leander knew exactly who.
