Chapter 3
The executive boardroom of the shipyard sat on the top floor overlooking the bustling harbor of Baltimore. Fifteen board members were seated around the massive mahogany table early the next morning.
An elderly director named Leonard, who had been a loyal friend to my grandfather, slammed his hands onto the table in disgust. “Rosalind has been missing for less than two days! There is no death certificate, yet you are already demanding control of her assets?”
Garrett sat there wearing a pristine gray suit, looking like the grieving, devoted husband he had pretended to be for three years. “I am not doing this for myself, Leonard,” Garrett said with fake sorrow. “I am simply trying to protect this company while the rescue teams search the river.”
His attorneys laid out thick folders filled with forged power of attorney forms that mimicked my signature down to the stroke.
“The company requires immediate leadership,” Garrett insisted, picking up a silver pen. “Rosalind would have wanted me to step in.”
“Then wait until her body is found!” Leonard barked back.
“We all know what happens after forty-eight hours in that river,” Garrett sighed, lowering the pen toward the signature line.
I shoved the heavy double doors open, letting the loud crash echo across the silent room. I walked straight inside accompanied by two state investigators and an official representative from the prosecutor’s office.
“Good morning, everyone,” I announced loudly. “I hope I am not too late to attend my own corporate funeral.”
The room went dead silent as Leonard gasped in utter shock. Garrett’s face drained of all color, and the silver pen slipped from his trembling fingers, clattering onto the glass table.
“Rosalind?” Garrett stammered, stumbling backward out of his leather chair. “No… this is impossible…”
“What is wrong, my love?” I asked, stepping closer with a sharp smile. “You look as though you have just seen a ghost.”
“Thank God you are alive!” Garrett suddenly yelled, trying to put on a show for the board as he rushed toward me with open arms.
“Do not take another step toward me,” I commanded, pulling a portable speaker from my bag.
I hit the play button, and Garrett’s recorded voice instantly filled the entire boardroom, detailing how he wired my seatbelt, poisoned my night milk, tampered with my cosmetics, and plotted with Penelope to steal my family’s legacy.
The board members gasped in absolute horror while Leonard stared at Garrett with pure hatred.
“You scoundrel!” Leonard shouted.
Garrett lunged blindly toward the speaker, but two armed police officers immediately tackled him to the floor. “Garrett Vance, stay down and keep your hands where we can see them!”
“This is completely illegal!” Garrett screamed from the floor. “That audio is fake! It is manipulated!”
The lead prosecutor walked over and held up a sealed evidence bag containing the cut section of the seatbelt pulled from the submerged vehicle. “We recovered this from the river hours ago, Mr. Vance. The locking mechanism was deliberately altered with wire that matches the tool set in your garage.”
“I didn’t do it!” Garrett protested wildly.
“We also have search warrants for your residence to seize your toxic chemical supplies, cosmetics, and computer hard drives,” the prosecutor added coldly.
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Garrett turned his eyes toward me, filled with genuine panic for the first time in his life. “Rosalind, please listen to me! We can fix this together!”
I leaned down close to his ear so only he could hear me. “You sat on the riverbank and hugged my sister while waiting for me to drown. The only thing I am fixing today is the mistake of ever letting you into my life.”
