Chapter 5 - Aunt Rebecca
Rebecca denied everything.
She claimed Evelyn borrowed her car.
Police weren't convinced.
Ryan wasn't either.
His younger sister had always been closer to their mother.
Where Ryan occasionally resisted, Rebecca obeyed.
Evelyn paid her mortgage.
Covered private-school tuition for her stepchildren.
Funded her boutique.
Money created loyalty.
Ryan asked Rebecca to meet him.
Public place.
No Maya.
No Oliver.
Rebecca arrived furious.
“You had Mom arrested.”
“She withheld my son's medication.”
“She panicked.”
“She hid his inhaler.”
“Maya exaggerates everything.”
Ryan stared.
“You saw the video.”
Rebecca looked away.
There it was.
Even video couldn't overcome decades of conditioning.
“Mom says Maya planted the camera.”
“Mom is on the footage putting the inhaler in her bag.”
“She was moving it.”
“While Oliver couldn't breathe?”
Rebecca slammed her hand down.
“You're choosing that woman over your family.”
Ryan became completely calm.
“Maya is my family.”
Rebecca froze.
“So is Oliver.”
“Mom raised us.”
“That doesn't give her ownership.”
“You'll regret this.”
Ryan stood.
“No.”
He looked at his sister.
“I regret waiting this long.”
Then Rebecca made a mistake.
“Mom only wanted temporary custody until the trust situation was resolved.”
Ryan stopped.
“What trust situation?”
Rebecca's face changed.
She had said too much.
“What did Mom tell you?”
“Nothing.”
“Rebecca.”
She grabbed her purse.
Ryan blocked nothing.
He simply watched her leave.
Detectives subpoenaed Rebecca's communications.
The truth came quickly.
Evelyn had promised her money.
If she gained control over Oliver's trust distributions, she planned to direct funds toward a “family residence.”
That residence would be owned by an LLC.
Rebecca would hold twenty percent.
Evelyn sixty.
The remaining twenty?
An attorney.
The Whitmore family attorney.
The same attorney who had ignored Ryan's calls.
Now investigators had another name.
May you like
Martin Keene.
And Martin knew the trust better than anyone.
