Chapter 9
The pattern became impossible to ignore once someone placed the dates side by side.
Wednesday morning.
Estelle received tea but no breakfast.
Paige Benton arrived at 10:00 a.m.
Estelle missed the date by one day and became irritable during questioning.
The result was documented as possible cognitive decline.
Thursday morning.
Half a bowl of soup the previous evening.
No breakfast.
Brennan conducted what he called an informal financial conversation.
He wrote afterward that Estelle struggled to recall how many voting shares she held.
Thursday afternoon.
Lavinia canceled Estelle’s lunch because she was supposedly nauseated.
The mobile notary arrived at 3:00.
Estelle refused to sign the acknowledgment.
Friday.
Food restriction continued.
The geriatric capacity evaluation was scheduled for Saturday morning.
Miriam Cole looked at the chart.
“This isn’t care.”
Rebecca said nothing.
Cassian felt sick.
The private nurse had not been part of a conspiracy.
She had been given false background information.
The notary had done nothing wrong.
Even Dr. Coyle might have walked into the estate Saturday believing he was evaluating a genuinely declining elderly woman.
That was what made the scheme more plausible.
Most of the professionals did not need to be corrupt.
They only needed to be shown the version Brennan and Lavinia created.
Then the forensic accountant found a draft board proxy.
It was prepared for use if Brennan’s financial power over Estelle activated.
The proxy would instruct her voting interest against Cassian’s restructuring plan.
Rebecca looked at the document.
“We expected this.”
Cassian nodded.
“But there’s something else.”
Attached was a proposed family governance resolution.
If the restructuring failed, Brennan would become executive vice chairman with expanded operational authority.
Lavinia’s foundation budget restrictions would be reversed.
Their motives were now visible.
Power.
Money.
Control.
Still, Miriam was not satisfied.
“This tells me why they wanted Mrs. Morretti’s vote.”
She tapped the care timeline.
“It doesn’t tell me exactly what they thought they were doing to get it.”
The answer was found in medical billing records.
Lavinia had scheduled not one capacity evaluation.
Three.
Each on a morning preceded by a deliberately restricted meal schedule.
Cassian stared at the dates.
Rebecca looked at him.
May you like
There was only one reasonable conclusion left.
Part 10 would make it official.
