Chapter 9 - Jason Had a Third Partner
Lauren handed over her phone.
Hidden inside a locked folder were messages with Jason.
At first they discussed the failed property business.
Then the house.
Then Margaret.
But the last month was different.
Jason stopped answering questions.
He asked Lauren for signatures without explanations.
He told her to trust him.
Then there was one message:
Once title clears, we won’t need Ethan or L anymore.
Ethan stared.
“L?”
Lauren looked sick.
“Me.”
Robert frowned.
“Who was he talking to?”
Lauren opened a screenshot.
A bank transfer.
Recipient: Northstar Holdings LLC.
Margaret recognized the name.
Robert did too.
Ethan did not.
“What?”
Robert looked at Margaret.
“That’s Caroline’s company.”
Ethan’s blood went cold.
Caroline.
His former fiancée.
The woman whose attempt to use the house years earlier had helped inspire David to create the trust.
Ethan laughed once in disbelief.
“No.”
Lauren whispered, “I didn’t know.”
Margaret sat down.
Robert looked through the bank records.
Northstar had funded Jason’s first two property purchases.
Caroline had been financing him.
For years.
Ethan stared at the house.
His past and present suddenly touched.
Lauren asked quietly.
“Why would Caroline care about this house?”
Margaret answered.
“Because she never stopped caring.”
Not about Ethan.
About the property.
The mansion sat on seventeen acres outside Boston.
Development value had exploded.
Robert estimated the land alone could be worth more than twelve million dollars.
Ethan finally understood.
This was not just about a house.
It was about land.
Control.
Money.
And someone had spent years waiting for the right weakness.
Lauren whispered, “Jason said he found an investor.”
Margaret looked at her.
“He found someone who already knew Ethan.”
Then Ethan’s phone rang.
Unknown number.
He answered.
May you like
Caroline’s voice came through.
“Ethan, before your mother tells you another version of history, you should ask her what really happened to your father.”
