Chapter 4 - Richard Had Another Silver Bracelet
Photographs Vanessa had taken showed Richard carrying a jewelry box into
the fertility clinic. Another showed him leaving with what appeared to
be Emily’s bracelet, even though Emily had been wearing hers elsewhere
that day.
The clinic’s records, obtained through proper legal process, contained
no patient named Emily Ashford. They did contain a Sarah Collins.
Sarah had been Richard’s executive assistant. Everyone was told she
moved to Chicago eight months earlier.
She had not.
Sarah agreed to speak and arrived with an attorney—and a four-month-old
baby boy.
Richard’s face changed when he saw them.
Sarah admitted she and Richard had an affair. He paid privately for
fertility treatment after she became pregnant. Once Richard discovered
Vanessa’s tracker, he placed the duplicate bracelet in Sarah’s bag
during clinic visits to create a false location trail.
Sarah also produced estate documents Richard had asked her to sign. Her
baby had been named a contingent beneficiary of an Ashford trust.
One draft contained a deadline: if Emily and Richard divorced before
their tenth anniversary, Richard retained control of a disputed voting
block.
Their anniversary was nine days away.
May you like
The violence inside the mansion had not erupted randomly.
A corporate deadline was approaching.
