Chapter 8 - The Promise Rebecca Couldn't KeepRebecca Hale had never liked Aster House.
That was one of the things Daniel remembered most clearly as he drove past its gates a week after the wedding.
The building stood behind manicured hedges and iron fencing, a palace of limestone, glass, and chandeliers.
To outsiders, it represented old money and perfect weddings.
To Rebecca, it represented obligation.
“My father doesn't love that building,” she'd once told Daniel. “He loves what owning it makes people do for him.”
Daniel had laughed at the time.
Rebecca hadn't.
Now he was beginning to understand why.
He parked across the street.
His wrist remained immobilized, and Caroline had advised him not to enter the property or attempt to confront anyone.
He had agreed.
Still, he needed to see the place in daylight.
From the outside, the upper windows looked harmless.
He knew that behind them was the balcony where Vivienne had released Lucy.
He also knew Marcus was still working.
That seemed unbearable.
Daniel took a photograph of the building, then drove to his attorney's office.
Caroline was waiting with a stack of documents.
“Before we start, I want you to understand something,” she said. “Lucy's inheritance is governed by an old family trust. It's separate from Rebecca's personal estate.”
Daniel sat down.
“I knew Rebecca had shares in the hotel company.”
“An interest in the holding company, yes. But neither you nor Rebecca could simply sell the shares whenever you wanted.”
“Rebecca said they'd belong to Lucy one day.”
“They are held for Lucy's benefit under the trust terms.”
Daniel frowned.
“What's the difference?”
“Legal ownership and control matter. The trustee manages the interest, subject to fiduciary duties. Lucy is the beneficiary.”
He looked toward the documents.
“Then what was Vivienne asking me to sell?”
“That's what concerns me.”
Caroline opened an old estate memorandum.
The trust had been established by Rebecca's grandmother, Eleanor Cross, years before Lucy was born.
It provided income protections for family members and held a substantial ownership interest in Cross Hospitality Holdings.
Rebecca had benefited from the trust during her lifetime.
Following her death, Lucy became the designated beneficiary of her branch.
Daniel had never studied the technical provisions.
He had trusted Rebecca to understand them.
After her death, he had been too consumed by grief to ask detailed questions.
Caroline placed a separate letter in front of him.
It had been written by Rebecca's estate attorney shortly before she died.
Rebecca requested a review of the trust's successor-beneficiary provisions and expressed concern about potential conflicts involving Harrison Cross.
Daniel read the sentence three times.
“She was worried about her father?”
“Yes.”
“Why didn't she tell me?”
“Perhaps she intended to. Perhaps she thought it was a business problem she could handle.”
He looked down.
Rebecca had tried to involve him.
He remembered now.
An argument over dinner.
She had asked him to attend a meeting about the company.
He had told her he couldn't bear another confrontation with Harrison.
You know how he gets, Rebecca. Just let the lawyers handle it.
She had stared at him for a long moment.
Then she'd said, Sometimes doing nothing is a decision, Daniel.
He had resented those words.
Now they returned like a blow.
Caroline continued.
“The attorney advised Rebecca that changing the old trust would require legal steps. She couldn't simply rewrite it herself.”
“Did she start those steps?”
“She requested information. I haven't found a completed petition or amendment.”
Daniel rubbed his forehead.
“What exactly was she trying to change?”
Caroline closed the folder.
“I want to verify the full trust instrument before I answer that.”
“Why?”
“Because a summary can omit important conditions.”
Daniel looked at her.
“Please don't protect me from bad news.”
“I'm not. I'm protecting us from making conclusions we can't support.”
He nodded reluctantly.
She passed him another document.
It was a company letter dated six weeks before Rebecca's death.
Harrison Cross had proposed exploring a sale of Aster House to a national hospitality investor.
Rebecca had opposed the proposal.
Her handwritten comment remained in the margin.
This would destroy everything Grandma wanted the trust to protect.
Daniel remembered the argument that followed.
Harrison had accused Rebecca of being sentimental.
Rebecca had accused Harrison of treating family assets like his personal rescue fund.
Daniel had stepped between them.
“Can we please have one dinner without talking about money?”
The argument had ended.
The problem hadn't.
Now Caroline pointed to the final page.
“Look at the signatories.”
Harrison Cross.
Two company executives.
And Marcus Vale, listed as operations representative for the proposed transaction.
Daniel felt cold.
“Marcus was involved before Rebecca died?”
“Yes.”
“Then he knew about the dispute.”
“He knew about the potential sale. We don't know what else he knew.”
Daniel leaned back.
For months, he had thought Vivienne's questions about Lucy's inheritance were merely curiosity.
But the company sale had been discussed long before the wedding.
Rebecca had opposed it.
Lucy had inherited Rebecca's protected interest.
And Marcus had been involved in the transaction.
Daniel looked at Caroline.
“Why would Harrison need Lucy's shares if he already runs the company?”
May you like
Caroline pulled out the shareholders' agreement.
“Because he doesn't own enough of it to make that decision alone.”
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