Chapter 5 - Emma’s Copy
Emma arrived at Bennett Acres at nine the next morning.
She had not slept.
Neither had Charles.
Ruth had.
“Farm work cures insomnia,” she said.
Emma sat at the kitchen table with her laptop.
“I exported everything I could.”
Sarah Kim joined them by video call.
She had already checked preliminary county records.
“No option agreement has been recorded.”
Charles exhaled.
“But,” Sarah continued, “Hale Development filed a preliminary access plan with the county six weeks ago.”
Charles stiffened.
“Using my property?”
“Not officially. The drawing shows a proposed connection across Parcel 19-B.”
“My parcel.”
“Yes.”
“Can they do that?”
“They can draw whatever fantasy road they want. Approval is another matter.”
Emma opened a folder.
“Lauren sent this to me two months ago.”
It was a bridesmaid itinerary.
Buried among cake appointments and dress fittings was an entry:
Tuesday — estate documents / attorney / C + L signatures
Charles remembered.
Lauren had scheduled them to meet an estate planner after returning from their honeymoon.
“She told me we were doing wills.”
Emma looked uncomfortable.
“There’s an email.”
She opened it.
Lauren had written Richard:
Estate meeting confirmed. Sarah won’t be there. Charles thinks it’s standard newlywed planning.
Charles stared.
Sarah said, “That is not ideal.”
Emma opened another message.
Richard:
Make sure Mercer handles it.
Sarah interrupted.
“Who is Mercer?”
Nobody knew.
Emma searched.
Lauren’s response:
He said he can package the option with the asset transfer docs.
Sarah’s voice changed.
“I need that name.”
Emma found an attachment.
Jonathan Mercer, Esq.
Sarah went silent.
“You know him?” Charles asked.
“By reputation.”
“That doesn’t sound good.”
“He does transactional work for developers. Aggressive, but that doesn’t mean criminal.”
“Would he prepare forged documents?”
“I’m not saying that.”
Emma whispered, “There are emails from him.”
Sarah told her not to open anything inaccessible without proper authorization.
Emma explained Lauren had forwarded them directly to her while asking for help printing wedding paperwork.
That made them usable as evidence Emma possessed.
One message from Mercer read:
Lauren — attached is the unsigned form requested by Richard. I have not verified Charles Bennett’s assent and will not circulate an executable version until he is represented or confirms directly.
Sarah smiled for the first time.
“That helps Mercer.”
Charles frowned.
“How?”
“He explicitly refused to treat it as executed.”
Another forwarded email, sent two weeks later, came from Richard—not Mercer.
It contained the version with Charles’s signature.
Sarah’s expression hardened.
“There.”
“What?”
“That distinction matters.”
Mercer had prepared a draft.
Someone else added Charles’s signature later.
Emma found another message.
Lauren to Richard:
Where did you get his signature?
Richard:
From the contractor guarantee he sent last year. Stop worrying. Nothing happens until after the ceremony.
Charles stared at the screen.
Lauren knew.
She knew the signature had been copied.
Her reply came eight minutes later.
Delete that.
Richard:
Relax.
Charles stood and walked away from the table.
Ruth watched him through the kitchen window.
He went onto the porch.
Emma followed a minute later.
“I’m sorry.”
Charles leaned against the railing.
“You already said that.”
“I should have told you when I saw the messages.”
“Yes.”
She nodded.
No excuses.
Charles respected that.
“Why didn’t you?”
Emma looked toward the pasture.
“Lauren has been my best friend since college.”
“I know.”
“She told me Richard was pressuring her.”
“He was.”
“She said the agreement would never be used unless you agreed.”
“He forged my signature.”
“I know.”
“She knew he forged it.”
“I know.”
Charles looked at Emma.
“And you knew three weeks ago.”
“Yes.”
He nodded.
Emma wiped her eyes.
“I kept thinking if I could convince her to confess, I wouldn’t have to be the person who destroyed everything.”
“You didn’t destroy it.”
“I helped it continue.”
Charles did not comfort her.
She deserved honesty too.
“Yes.”
Emma nodded.
They stood in silence.
Then she said, “There’s one message I didn’t show you.”
Charles looked at her.
“Why?”
“Because I’m not sure what it means.”
She opened her phone.
It was a screenshot from Lauren’s conversation with Richard.
Richard:
If Ruth becomes a problem, we use the note.
Lauren:
Absolutely not.
Richard:
Then get Charles to handle her.
Lauren:
She trusts him.
Richard:
Exactly.
Charles stared.
“What note?”
Emma shook her head.
“I don’t know.”
From behind them Ruth spoke.
“I might.”
They turned.
Ruth stood in the doorway.
Her face had lost its color.
Charles stepped toward her.
“What?”
She looked at him.
May you like
“Your father’s debt.”
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