Chapter 4 - The Dead Hand Clause
Richard’s face visibly paled, the color draining from his cheeks like water down a drain. "Modified it? What are you talking about? We signed the joint marital trust together last year!"
"Which she unilaterally revoked after discovering irregularities in your personal offshore accounts," Evelyn countered coolly, pulling out a stack of notarized documents stamped with federal seals. "Under the newly enacted Hayes Governance Contingency Clause, any sudden, violent, or unverified demise of Amelia Hayes triggers an immediate freeze on all corporate assets, intellectual properties, and personal wealth."
A murmur rippled across the board table. Board members began whispering furiously among themselves.
"That's absurd!" Richard shouted, losing his polished demeanor as his voice pitched higher. "I am her husband! The father of her unborn child! You can't freeze my rights based on a paranoia clause!"
"It's not a freeze on rights, Richard," Evelyn said, looking him dead in the eye. "It is an immediate transfer of temporary control to an independent third-party board of trustees—headed directly by the Department of Justice’s Financial Crimes Division, pending a full homicide investigation into her disappearance."
Richard stepped back, his eyes darting wildly toward his lawyer, Croft, who looked equally stunned.
"A homicide investigation?" Richard stammered, sweating through his collar. "It was an accident! I was the only witness! I told the police everything!"
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"Yes," Evelyn added softly, leaning in close so only he could hear. "And that is precisely why my client didn't trust your story. She knew you were the only witness, Richard. And she knew what you would do when you thought no one was looking."
From my hidden monitor in the safehouse, I watched Richard's hand shake violently as he tried to grab the documents. My chest heaved with quiet satisfaction. He thought he had ended my life over the Pacific Ocean, but all he had done was unlock the doors to his own prison.
