My father had been in the ground less than three hours when my brother-in-law stood in the center of the drawing room and announced that his wife was inheriting it all.

The next morning, the battle lines were drawn. Harrison informed us that Victoria and Richard were legally entitled to remain in the city penthouse until the probate court reviewed the new trust. But the penthouse wasn't just a luxury apartment; it was the secondary headquarters for Dad's logistics company.

“If she has access to the penthouse office, she has access to the server room,” Alexander noted as we sat in Dad’s old study. “She can destroy the financial records that prove she embezzled the money.”

“Then we get there first,” I said.

I still had a master key to the penthouse. We didn't bring lawyers; we brought an IT specialist Harrison trusted. When we unlocked the doors to the sweeping, glass-walled apartment overlooking the city, the place was in chaos.

Victoria wasn't home, but she had clearly been working frantically. Shredders were overflowing with documents. Empty file boxes littered the floor.

“She’s purging the physical files,” I said, my heart pounding.

Our IT specialist immediately went to work on the central server. “They’re currently attempting to wipe the hard drives remotely,” he said, his fingers flying across the keyboard. “But they’re clumsy. I can isolate the network and lock them out.”

While he worked, Alexander and I searched the master bedroom. Hidden beneath a false bottom in Victoria’s vanity drawer, Alexander found a leather-bound ledger.

He flipped through the pages, his jaw tightening. “It’s not just the money she used to hide me. Look at this.”

He handed me the ledger. It was a meticulous record of off-the-books transactions. Richard had been using my father’s logistics trucks to smuggle un-taxed luxury goods across state lines for the last three years, skimming millions in profit while leaving my father’s company holding the legal liability.

“They aren't just greedy,” I whispered, staring at the numbers. “They’re criminals. If the IRS or the feds saw this, Dad’s company would be destroyed.”

“That’s why they needed the estate so badly,” Alexander said grimly. “They aren't fighting for inheritance. They’re fighting for a bailout. Richard is drowning in debt, and Victoria was using Dad’s company to keep him afloat.”