Chapter 4 - The Secret Trust
"Even if those debts were fake," my father argued, his voice desperate, "half of this house belongs to me by right of inheritance!"
"He's right!" my mother chimed in, finding a glimmer of hope. "Clare, you can't kick us out of our family home!"
I couldn't help but laugh.
"First of all, you tried to evict me forty-eight hours ago."
"We were just trying to teach you a lesson about responsibility," my mother lied smoothly.
"A lesson?" I echoed, shaking my head. "Well, let me teach you one."
I nodded to Marcus.
He opened his briefcase again and pulled out a thick, bound document.
"This is the actual will, executed by Richard Thompson," Marcus explained.
"We already saw the will," Julia scoffed. "It left the house to Clare. That's why we had to use the debt loophole."
"You saw the preliminary will," I corrected her.
Marcus handed the document to my father.
"Mr. Thompson, your father placed this entire estate into an irrevocable trust."
My father scanned the first page, his hands shaking violently.
"What does this mean?" he demanded.
"It means," Marcus said, "that Clare doesn't just own the house. She is the sole trustee."
I smiled at them.
"Grandpa knew you would try to challenge the will in probate court."
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"So he completely bypassed probate," Marcus finished. "The house, the accounts, the business—they all belong to the trust."
"You have no legal standing," I told my father. "You own nothing."
