Chapter 6 - The Architect
The revelation hit me like a physical blow.
Richard Hayes.
Richard had been our family’s senior legal counsel for nearly fifteen years. He knew every detail of my father’s assets, every clause in our corporate trusts, and every vulnerability in our estate security. When he suddenly retired three months ago, citing health reasons, we had sent him off with a generous pension and our best wishes.
He hadn't retired. He had orchestrated the entire plot from the shadows.
I left the detention facility immediately and called my private investigator, David.
“David,” I said as I got into my car. “I need a location on Richard Hayes. Right now.”
“Evelyn, Hayes left the country two weeks ago,” David reported over the line. “He bought a property in Saint Barthélemy under a nominee company. He’s been living like a king.”
“Check his domestic bank accounts,” I instructed. “If he helped Clara set up those offshore accounts, he had to have received a fee—a finder’s fee or a legal retainer.”
“I’m already looking at it,” David said, the sound of keys clicking rapid-fire in the background. “Wait… Evelyn, look at the signature on the original trust modification documents from three months ago. The ones that stripped your access to the foundation.”
I opened the digital files on my tablet.
“It’s signed by Richard Hayes as the executing notary,” I said.
“Look closer at the stamp date,” David urged. “The stamp date is marked four months ago—two weeks before Celeste ever met your father at that gala in Paris.”
My breath caught in my throat.
Celeste didn't target my father and then hire Richard Hayes. Richard Hayes had scouted Celeste, brought her to New York, supplied her with my father’s medical records, and crafted the entire scheme to bleed the Ashford estate dry from the inside out.
He wasn't just a dirty lawyer; he was the master architect of my family’s near-destruction.
I dialed the district attorney’s emergency line. “Mr. District Attorney, this is Evelyn Ashford. I need an international arrest warrant and an immediate freeze order issued for Richard Hayes.”
May you like
“Miss Ashford,” the DA replied hesitantly. “An international extradition from St. Barts can take months, even with strong evidence. We need a direct link proving he knew about the poisoning.”
“I’ll get you the link,” I said grimly. “By tonight.”
