I spent the next two nights back in the hospital while doctors examined my repaired leg and made sure the fall hadn’t caused serious damage to the surgical work. Daniel called repeatedly, but I refused to speak with him directly, and Angela instructed him that every conversation concerning me, the house, or my businesses would now go through her.
Meanwhile, investigators began examining the documents from the garage safe, Daniel’s financial records, and the files connected to Margaret’s trust. What they uncovered showed that the power of attorney Daniel wanted me to sign had been only one piece of a much larger financial plan.
Angela arrived at my hospital room carrying a thick folder.
“You were right to refuse those papers.”
“How bad is it?”
“Worse than Daniel told you. But also more complicated.”
Daniel had been struggling financially for almost a year. A business investment he made without telling me had performed badly, and instead of admitting the losses, he had borrowed more money in an attempt to recover them while continuing to maintain the appearance that everything was fine.
By the time of my surgery, he desperately needed additional collateral. My commercial property represented the easiest solution, but because it had come through my grandmother and remained under entities I controlled, Daniel couldn’t legally pledge it without my authorization.
“So the power of attorney was supposed to give him that authority.”
“Yes. But Daniel wasn’t the only person preparing for what happened afterward.”
Angela opened another section of the file containing emails between Margaret and a financial adviser. Months before my surgery, Margaret had been asking questions about transferring assets belonging to an incapacitated spouse, restructuring ownership through trusts, and protecting family property from creditors.
My stomach tightened.
“She knew about Daniel’s debt.”
