Chapter 18 - The Trust Document
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Dad unfolded the paper with extreme care.
Instead of a personal letter, the document was a formal legal instrument printed on bank security stock. At the top of the page, in bold black lettering, was the header:
IRREVOCABLE CONTINGENCY TRUST AGREEMENT — 1996.
I leaned in close to read the details alongside my father.
The document established a private, off-shore secondary trust managed by an independent trustee in Delaware. The primary grantor was listed as Richard Sterling, and the sole beneficiary was listed as Audrey Bennett.
My breath hitched in my throat. “A trust in my name?”
“Look at the funding clause, Audrey,” Dad pointed with a shaking finger.
The funding clause stipulated that in the event of Richard Sterling’s bankruptcy or death, twenty percent of all equity reserves from his secondary holdings would be automatically transferred into this private trust to repay the principal and accrued interest of Margaret Bennett’s original sixty-thousand-dollar investment.
And at the bottom of the page, beneath the legal stamps, was an active bank account number.
My eyes widened in shock. The account number listed on that 1996 document matched the exact string of digits I had uncovered on my second phone—the third fraudulent account Julian had opened!
“Julian didn't open a new account in your name, Audrey!” I realized out loud, my mind racing through the financial data. “He found his father’s old contingency trust document in this room! He reactivated his father’s old account to access the money!”
“How much money is in that account, Audrey?” Eleanor asked, stepping forward in alarm.
I pulled out my second phone, logged into the secure forensic portal, and ran a real-time check on the routing number connected to that old trust document.
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The balance appeared on the screen: $342,850.00.
Richard Sterling had successfully funded the trust before his death, accumulating interest for thirty years. And Julian had discovered it, attempting to steal my mother’s repayment money before I ever knew it existed.
