Chapter 2 - The Locked Drawer
The home office was in a state of utter disarray. My filing cabinets had been rummaged through, my tax returns and old bank statements scattered across the desk like confetti. Thomas had clearly been looking for something specific while I was away at the hospital tending to my father’s recovery.
I walked over to the built-in mahogany desk. At the very bottom was a deep drawer equipped with a heavy, biometric electronic lock. It was the only drawer Thomas didn't have the code or fingerprint access to. It was where I kept the original deed to the apartment, my personal inheritance documents from my grandmother, and my private savings ledgers.
I pressed my thumb against the scanner. A sharp beep echoed through the room, followed by the satisfying click of the heavy mechanism releasing.
I pulled the drawer open. Everything looked intact at first glance, but as I lifted the heavy folder containing the original property deed, I noticed a thick, yellow manila envelope pushed to the very back. It wasn't mine. It was stamped with the logo of a law firm I didn't recognize: Apex Legal & Asset Management.
With trembling fingers, I pulled the envelope out and opened it.
Inside was a stack of legal documents. The first page made my breath catch in my throat. It was a Power of Attorney and Property Transfer Agreement. It stated that I, Alice Sterling, was voluntarily relinquishing full financial control and ownership of Unit 402 to Thomas Higgins due to "medical incapacitation and severe emotional instability."
At the bottom of the page was my signature.
It looked incredibly realistic—the slight tilt of the 'A', the sharp cross of the 't'—but it was a complete forgery. It was a digital copy of my signature from an old tax document, printed and stamped onto the page using a professional graphic overlay.
But as I flipped to the second document in the folder, the true horror of what Thomas had been planning unfolded. It wasn't just about the apartment.
It was a life insurance policy.
A brand-new, high-premium policy taken out in my name just four weeks ago, while I was isolated in Pine Valley. The policy valued my life at two million dollars. The sole beneficiary listed was Thomas Higgins. Appended to the back of the policy was a forged medical report from a private clinic, claiming that I had recently been diagnosed with a severe, chronic heart condition—the exact same hereditary condition that my father had just undergone surgery for.
My legs gave out. I collapsed into the office chair, staring at the papers in absolute disbelief.
Thomas wasn't just trying to steal my apartment to please his overbearing, greedy mother. He was setting up a paper trail. He was creating a narrative that I was sick, unstable, and ready to snap. If something happened to me—an "accidental" overdose of my father’s heart medication, a sudden cardiac arrest brought on by stress—Thomas would inherit the apartment, eliminate his mounting corporate debts, and collect two million dollars.
A shadow fell across the doorway.
I looked up. Mrs. Higgins was standing there, clutching the pink robe tightly around herself. The arrogant sneer was completely gone from her face, replaced by a pale, hollow look as she saw the manila envelope in my hands.
“You... you weren't supposed to find that,” she whispered, her voice trembling.
“Did you know about this, Evelyn?” I asked, my voice dangerously quiet, vibrating with a cold, terrifying clarity. “Did you know your son took out a two-million-dollar policy on my life while I was saving my father?”
Mrs. Higgins swallowed hard, backing away into the hallway. “Thomas... Thomas said it was just a financial strategy! He said it was to protect our family future! He said you were holding him back!”
“Get out of my sight,” I hissed, standing up with the folder clutched firmly in my hand.
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I marched out of the office and back into the living room, where Mr. Vance and Marcus were waiting.
“Mr. Vance,” I said, my voice cutting through the air like a knife. “Please call the police immediately. I am reporting a case of identity theft, grand larceny, and corporate forgery. And as for Mrs. Higgins—Marcus, please escort her out of the building. She has thirty seconds to take off my robe and leave, or she will be arrested in the lobby.”
