Chapter 133
Chapter 133: The Ghost Franchise
In early 2089, a fraudulent investment firm operating out of the digital free-zones of the Caribbean attempted a sophisticated trademark grift. They had registered a shell company called Davis Real Estate & Construction Trust, using an obsolete font variations of Robert's old 1990s business logo, attempting to launch an automated real estate crowdfunding scam targeting elderly retirees in Virginia.
They were banking on the idea that after sixty years, the local public memory of the family name would associate it with prosperous mid-century development rather than grand larceny.
Claire received the alert on her personal console during a quiet morning at the Virginia home. She didn't contact local law enforcement; she called Justice Sarah Thorne's successor at the state level, a sharp legal mind named Chief Justice Miller.
"They're using the old family branding to bait vulnerable people, Chief Justice," Claire said, her voice dangerously calm. "They think because the original Davis Construction entity was dissolved by federal asset seizure in 2026, the branding rights are public property."
May you like
"They're mistaken, Claire," Miller replied, pulling up the historical files. "When your mother finalized the restitution closure in 2035, Marcus Thorne inserted a permanent 'Criminal Infamy Lock' on the Davis Construction name and all associated intellectual property. Legally, that branding cannot be used for commercial profit anywhere on American soil for one hundred years."
Within forty-eight hours, the federal marshals executed a digital seizure order, shutting down the Caribbean site's domain and confiscating their automated servers. The grift was dead before it could secure a single dollar of investment. The name Davis remained precisely what my mother had made it: a fortress for the innocent, and a hazard for thieves.
