Chapter 3 - The Signature That Looked Too Perfect
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Dominic picked up the document.
He didn’t read it like a frightened son.
He read it like a man searching for a lie.
Every page bore his mother’s initials.
The final page carried her full signature.
EV Evelyn Vercetti.
Neat.
Elegant.
Perfect.
Too perfect.
Dominic looked toward his mother.
“Ma. Sign your name.”
Marcella rolled her eyes.
“This is ridiculous.”
Dominic slid a dinner card across the table.
Evelyn took the pen.
Her hand still trembled slightly from the slap.
But she signed.
Evelyn Vercetti.
Dominic placed the fresh signature beside the one on Marcella’s document.
At first glance, they matched.
Then Dominic pointed.
“My mother crosses the second T from left to right.”
Marcella said nothing.
“This one was crossed from right to left.”
“That proves nothing.”
“No.”
Dominic looked up.
“But you’re nervous.”
Marcella laughed, but there was no warmth in it.
Before she could answer, a gray-haired man at the far side of the table cleared his throat.
Harold Mercer.
The family’s longtime corporate attorney.
“I should probably explain what happens at midnight.”
Dominic turned toward him.
Harold looked uncomfortable.
That bothered Dominic more than anything Marcella had said.
“Talk.”
Harold removed his glasses.
“Three weeks ago, my office received a voting-rights transfer bearing Evelyn’s signature and notarization.”
“Why wasn’t I told?”
“Because it contained confidentiality language.”
Dominic stared at him.
“You accepted a secret transfer of my mother’s controlling votes and didn’t call me?”
Harold’s face tightened.
“I questioned it.”
“But you processed it.”
“I recorded it provisionally.”
Marcella folded her arms.
“Because it’s valid.”
Harold continued.
“Under the Vercetti Continuity Agreement, a challenged transfer can be stopped before midnight on the date it takes effect.”
“And after midnight?”
Harold hesitated.
“It becomes controlling unless a court intervenes.”
Dominic looked at the clock.
10:26.
Marcella had chosen tonight carefully.
A banquet.
Dozens of witnesses.
Dominic arriving late.
His mother surrounded by people who had slowly been taught to doubt her.
“You planned to humiliate her until she left,” Dominic said.
Marcella smiled.
“I planned a family dinner.”
“You planned witnesses.”
Her smile faded.
Evelyn suddenly reached for Dominic’s hand.
“Ask Harold about the Founder’s Amendment.”
Harold’s face changed.
Marcella snapped toward him.
“There is no Founder’s Amendment.”
Evelyn ignored her.
“My husband and I signed one in 1998.”
Harold frowned.
“I’ve never seen it.”
“Because it was never kept at your office.”
Marcella laughed again.
“There. You hear that? A mystery document nobody has ever seen.”
Evelyn looked at Dominic.
“Your father knew one day someone might try to take this family from inside.”
Dominic’s expression hardened.
“Where is it?”
Evelyn turned toward the old chair.
Marcella’s face went white.
Then suddenly—
The lights went out.
The entire banquet hall plunged into darkness.
Someone screamed.
A chair scraped.
And when the emergency lights clicked on three seconds later, Evelyn’s old chair was gone.
May you like
👉 Whoever killed the lights knew exactly what Dominic was about to discover — and this time, Marcella wasn’t the only person looking terrified.
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