Chapter 4 - The Hidden Document
The heavy, suffocating atmosphere in the penthouse suddenly shifted into something incredibly dangerous.
Roman pressed his thumb against a biometric scanner hidden behind a modern painting. The heavy steel safe clicked open. He didn't pull out stacks of cash or a weapon. He pulled out a thick, legally notarized black leather folder.
He walked back across the room and gently placed the folder on the glass coffee table right in front of Tess.
"Open it," Roman commanded quietly.
Tess slowly set her water glass down. Her hands were still trembling as she reached for the heavy leather cover. She expected to see the sickening marriage contract her father had forced her to sign.
Instead, she saw a very old, yellowed legal document bearing the official seal of the state. At the very bottom of the page was a signature she recognized instantly, a signature that made her heart physically stop beating in her chest.
It was her late mother’s handwriting.
"What is this?" Tess choked out, her eyes scanning the complex legal jargon.
"It is your mother’s original, unredacted Last Will and Testament," Roman explained smoothly, standing tall in his black suit. "The one your father desperately tried to burn ten years ago."
Tess physically staggered, dropping onto the edge of the sofa. All the color violently drained from her beautiful face.
Her mother had died when Tess was fifteen. Arthur had always claimed that the entire family fortune and the real estate company were left solely to him, and that Tess was entitled to absolutely nothing until Arthur decided to give it to her.
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"Read the primary beneficiary clause," Roman whispered softly.
👉 Tess dragged her finger across the old paper, realizing her entire life had been a massive, calculated lie.
