Chapter 3: The Locked Drawer
The next morning, David didn't go to work.
He sat at the dining table with three folders in front of him.
Jasmine sat across from him.
Neither had touched breakfast.
Outside, rain tapped against the windows.
David opened the first folder.
“This is the original deed.””
Jasmine leaned forward.
“My name?””
“Mine and yours.””
She looked at the document.
Her name was there.
*Jasmine Harrison.*
Nineteen years old.
Legal beneficiary.
David pointed to another section.
“And this is the amendment Jessica filed.””
Jasmine's eyebrows pulled together.
“My name is gone.””
“Yes.””
“Who approved it?””
David's jaw tightened.
“That's what we're finding out.””
The front door opened.
Jessica walked inside.
She stopped when she saw the folders.
“You're still doing this?””
David didn't look up.
“Sit down.””
“I have somewhere to be.””
“Cancel it.””
Jessica stared at him.
“You can't order me around.””
David finally raised his eyes.
“Sit.””
She slowly sat.
Jasmine noticed that Jessica's hands were shaking.
David pushed a document toward her.
“This is your son's transfer agreement.””
Jessica glanced at it.
“Yes.””
“You signed this.””
“Yes.””
“Why?””
“Because I believed you wanted him protected.””
“I never said that.””
“You said you wanted the children treated equally.””
“Equally doesn't mean secretly giving him property.””
Jessica leaned forward.
“Jasmine was going to get everything.””
Jasmine blinked.
“What?””
Jessica looked at her.
“Your father always planned to leave you the estate.””
David interrupted.
“That's none of your concern.””
“It is my concern. I have a son.””
“Your son has a mother.””
“And what does that mean?””
“It means you don't get to steal from my daughter to provide for him.””
Jessica slammed her hand on the table.
“I didn't steal anything!””
Jasmine flinched.
David didn't.
“Then why did you hide the paperwork?””
Jessica opened her mouth.
No words came.
David pushed another sheet toward her.
“And why did you access my private files?””
Jessica looked down.
Jasmine recognized the handwriting on the authorization note.
“That's your signature.””
Jessica shook her head.
“I was allowed to access those files.””
“By whom?””
“You.””
“When?””
“I don't remember.””
David leaned back.
“Interesting.””
Jessica looked at him suspiciously.
“What does that mean?””
“It means every answer you give makes this worse.””
A car horn sounded outside.
David stood.
“Martin is here.””
Jessica immediately stood too.
“I don't want him involved.””
“He's my lawyer.””
“This is a family matter.””
“No,” David said.
“The moment legal documents were altered, it stopped being only a family matter.””
The doorbell rang.
David opened the door.
Martin entered carrying a leather briefcase.
Behind him was a woman in her forties.
Jessica's face drained of color.
David noticed.
“Who is she?””
Martin looked at Jessica.
“This is Helen Carter.””
Jessica whispered, “No.””
Jasmine stood.
“Who is she?””
Helen spoke calmly.
“I was the paralegal who prepared the original power of attorney.””
Jessica shook her head.
“That isn't possible.””
Helen frowned.
“Why?””
“You left the firm.””
“Two years ago.””
David looked at Martin.
“And why is she here?””
Martin opened his briefcase.
“Because Helen kept copies of the original intake records.””
He placed several pages on the table.
Jasmine leaned over them.
“What am I looking at?””
“The original instructions,” Martin said.
David scanned the page.
Then stopped.
“Jessica.””
She didn't answer.
He looked at her.
“This says you came to the office alone.””
Jessica swallowed.
“It was complicated.””
“It says you told Helen I had given you verbal authority.””
“I did.””
“It also says you brought a second person.””
Jessica's face tightened.
Helen nodded.
“Yes.””
David looked at her.
“Who?””
Helen hesitated.
Then she opened a small notebook.
“The name wasn't on the paperwork.””
“Then what did you write?””
Helen turned the notebook around.
Jasmine looked at the handwritten note.
Her heart stopped.
There was a name.
Someone she knew.
Someone who had been inside their house many times.
Someone David trusted.
Jasmine whispered the name.
“Uncle Michael?””
Jessica stood so suddenly that her chair fell backward.
“Stop.””
David turned toward her.
“Why?””
Jessica stared at the paper.
Then her voice cracked.
“Because Michael wasn't helping me.””
David's expression hardened.
“Then what was he doing?””
Jessica looked at Jasmine.
And for the first time, she looked genuinely afraid.
“He was helping me because he said your father had already decided to—”
The front door suddenly slammed open.
A man's voice came from the hallway.
“Jessica!””
Everyone turned.
Michael stood there, soaked from the rain.
His eyes went directly to the documents on the table.
May you like
Then he said something that made David's blood run cold.
“She's not the person you should be questioning.””
