Chapter 4 - The Brother's Betrayal And The First Trap Springing
Kyle shrank back into his chair, beads of sweat forming on his forehead under the glaring lights of the conference room.
"Kyle," I said softly, breaking my silence for the first time. "What did you tell them?"
My brother couldn't meet my eyes. He swallowed hard, his voice trembling as he muttered, "I... I thought we were doing the right thing. Calvin said Dad was confused, that his medication was making him forget things. Calvin promised that if we pooled our interests, we'd secure the family's financial future... that Dad wanted to split the estate equally between us."
"Equally?" Tabitha shrieked, dropping her polished facade in an instant. "You absolute idiot, Kyle! You said Everett was senile and that we had full legal control over the signature process!"
Calvin turned purple with rage, glaring at Kyle as if he wanted to strangle him across the mahogany table. "You incompetent fool! You swore you had his signature on the asset-transfer agreement!"
Penelope cleared her throat loudly, cutting through the rising hysteria like a knife.
"Mr. Montgomery, Mrs. Montgomery, I would advise you to watch your tone in a hall of law," Penelope warned, her voice dropping an octave into a chilling register. "Furthermore, let us address this alleged 'asset-transfer agreement' you seem so familiar with."
Penelope slid a document across the table. It was a photocopy of a private agreement bearing Kyle's signature and a shaky, digitally scanned replica of my father's signature—dated just six weeks before his passing.
Calvin swallowed hard, suddenly looking very small. "Where... where did you get that?"
"From your office computer server, Calvin," Penelope said calmly. "Or more accurately, from the hard drive of the laptop your secretary left unlocked in my office parking lot last Tuesday, which was subsequently handed over to the cyber-fraud division of the local police department."
The color drained completely from Tabitha’s face. She grabbed her handbag, her knuckles turning white. "Calvin... what is she talking about? What did you do?"
"Nothing! She's bluffing!" Calvin yelled, though his voice cracked with undisguised panic. "That document is a family arrangement! An informal understanding between a father and his son-in-law!"
"An informal understanding involving forged medical power of attorney and fraudulent asset diversion," Penelope corrected, adjusting her glasses. "Under state law, attempting to execute a fraudulent estate takeover while the testator is terminally ill constitutes felony grand larceny and conspiracy to commit fraud. The police are currently executing a search warrant at your joint residence as we speak."
Tabitha let out a choked gasp, pushing her chair back so violently it fell over with a loud crash. "You lied to me! You told me the old man was senile and the house was already ours!"
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"Shut up, Tabitha!" Calvin roared, losing all remaining shreds of composure.
I sat back in my chair, watching them devour one another. My father hadn't just predicted this; he had engineered it. He knew Calvin’s greed was a predictable disease, and he had left the door wide open for Calvin to walk right into the trap.
