Chapter 5 - The BeneficiaryI drove straight to my attorney's office.
The insurance policy was worth $1.2 million.
My mother had originally named me.
Then, six weeks before her death, the beneficiary had been changed.
To Gabriel.
I stared at the document.
“That's not my mother's signature.”
My attorney nodded.
“That's what we think.”
He placed another document beside it.
A handwriting expert's preliminary report.
The signature appeared forged.
I felt sick.
“Who submitted the change?”
“The insurance company received it electronically.”
“From where?”
He slid another page toward me.
A computer at Gabriel's office.
My stomach dropped.
Gabriel had access.
But he had always claimed he never touched my mother's finances.
Now we had proof.
I called him.
He answered immediately.
“Valerie?”
“Did you change my mother's life insurance beneficiary?”
Silence.
“Gabriel.”
“No.”
“Your office computer submitted the change.”
“I didn't do it.”
“Then who did?”
“I don't know.”
I believed him.
But that didn't make things better.
Because if Gabriel hadn't done it, someone had used his computer.
Someone close to him.
I called the attorney.
“Can we investigate?”
“Yes.”
We traced the access logs.
The file had been opened at 11:42 p.m.
The login belonged to Gabriel's assistant.
Her name was Natalie.
Natalie had worked for Gabriel for five years.
And she had one connection to Roderick.
She was his girlfriend.
The puzzle finally came together.
Roderick had used Natalie to access Gabriel's computer.
But why?
Because he needed Gabriel to appear responsible.
If the insurance policy changed to Gabriel, Roderick could later pressure him into sharing it.
He had been manipulating his brother.
Gabriel was not innocent.
But he wasn't the mastermind.
The mastermind was Roderick.
We contacted the police.
Natalie was questioned.
Within forty-eight hours, she confessed.
She admitted Roderick had instructed her to change the beneficiary.
Then she gave investigators something even more important.
Text messages.
Hundreds of them.
Roderick had written:
Once Valerie gets the eight million, Gabriel will convince her to transfer it.
Another message:
If she refuses, we use the insurance policy.
And another:
If that fails, I'll make sure Gabriel loses everything.
I stared at the screen.
Roderick hadn't just targeted me.
He had targeted his own brother.
Gabriel had been a tool.
And he hadn't even realized it.
When I showed him the messages, he broke down.
“I thought I was helping him.”
“You were.”
He looked at me.
“I was helping him destroy us.”
“Yes.”
He covered his face.
For the first time, I saw genuine regret.
But regret wasn't the same as redemption.
May you like
He had a lot to repair.
And I had already decided I wasn't going to wait around for him to become the man he should have been.
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