Chapter 4 - THE HIDDEN ENVELOPE
The envelope was addressed to Jackson.
It had been sent by a private lender in Atlanta.
Elena should not have opened it.
But her apartment address was printed beneath Jackson’s name.
Inside was a rejected loan application.
The application claimed Jackson owned Elena’s apartment free and clear.
It included an estimated property value, a copy of Victor’s death certificate, and what appeared to be Elena’s electronic consent.
Her signature was false.
Elena photographed every page.
Then she returned the envelope to its hiding place.
When Jackson came home, she watched him more carefully than she ever had before.
He kissed her cheek.
He asked about dinner.
He behaved like a man who had not tried to borrow money against property he did not own.
“How is the development project?” Elena asked.
Jackson paused.
“Fine.”
“Your mother said it needed money.”
“She exaggerates.”
“So you don’t need my inheritance?”
His eyes narrowed.
“I never said we needed it. I said investing would show commitment.”
“To your company?”
“To this family.”
Elena realized he was measuring how much she knew.
She smiled faintly and changed the subject.
The next morning, she called Nora Fields, the attorney handling Victor’s estate.
Nora listened without interrupting.
When Elena described the forged loan application, the attorney became quiet.
“Do not confront Jackson yet,” Nora said.
“Why?”
“Because your father left a second set of instructions.”
Elena sat straighter.
“What instructions?”
“They concern his business relationship with Reed Urban Development.”
“My father didn’t have a relationship with their company.”
“Yes, he did.”
Nora explained that certain files had been delayed because an independent audit was still being completed.
Victor had invested in Genesis’s company almost twenty years earlier.
He had never told Elena how much.
“Did Genesis know?”
“She knew exactly what he owned.”
Elena looked toward the photograph of her father on the shelf.
“Why didn’t he tell me?”
“Because he believed someone close to you was watching his finances.”
Nora asked Elena to meet her privately the next morning.
Before ending the call, she gave one warning.
“Do not sign anything Jackson or Genesis puts in front of you.”
That night, Jackson slept peacefully beside Elena.
She stared at the ceiling until sunrise.
May you like
The apartment was not the only thing they were trying to take.
👉 One sentence in Victor’s sealed instructions would reveal that Elena’s inheritance threatened everything Genesis had built.
