Chapter 9 - The Empire Shifts
The chapel practically erupted. The sound of fifty people whispering and murmuring at once sounded like a swarm of angry bees.
Vanessa spun toward me, her eyes wide with a manic, unhinged disbelief.
“No!” she screamed.
I did not move a single inch. I met her gaze with cold, dead eyes.
“No!” she shouted again, pointing a shaking finger at me. “That house is ours! Daddy paid contractors to renovate it! We lived there! You can’t have it!”
Mr. Pierce calmly turned a page, ignoring the chaos.
“Additionally, Emily Carter is hereby named the sole legal executor of my entire estate, effective immediately.”
Richard stepped back from the deputy, his voice dropping to a dangerous, low rumble that only the front rows could hear.
“Margaret was heavily medicated and deeply sick when she signed that garbage,” he growled. “This will be thrown out of probate court in a week.”
“She signed this specific document exactly eight months before her cancer diagnosis was even confirmed,” Mr. Pierce countered effortlessly. “She signed it in my office. On high-definition video. With two independent legal witnesses and a notarized capacity letter from her primary physician.”
Vanessa looked at her father, her foundation crumbling. “Daddy? What is he talking about?”
Richard’s expression shifted again. The anger faded, replaced by cold, desperate calculation.
“There must be another, more recent version of her will,” Richard demanded.
“There was indeed a more recent version that you drafted for her, Mr. Vale,” Mr. Pierce replied. “However, Margaret legally revoked it.”
“When?”
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“Immediately after she discovered the unauthorized, massive cash withdrawals you were making from her private medical account.”
The room went completely dead. Aunt Marjorie, sitting close by, whispered in horror, “Withdrawals?”
