Chapter 4 - The Tablet
Police did not immediately search Jessica’s condo because an IP address alone was not permission.
Corporate investigators preserved network logs.
Arthur’s team notified law enforcement.
Counsel sought appropriate legal process.
I stayed out.
That was harder than it sounds.
When someone uses your signature, every instinct says tear through their drawers yourself.
Law exists partly to stop instincts.
The next morning, Brendan’s attorney contacted mine.
His name was Philip Grant.
Competent.
Embarrassed.
“Mr. Morrison denies knowingly submitting any forged document.”
My attorney, Elise Warren, asked:
“Does he deny possessing Ms. Carter’s tablet?”
Silence.
Then:
“He believed it was marital property inadvertently retained.”
“Does he have it?”
“We are determining.”
By afternoon:
Yes.
It was in Jessica’s condo.
Brendan claimed he gave it to her to “see if old photographs could be recovered.”
Jessica said Brendan forgot password and asked her to take it to a tech friend.
No tech friend existed.
The tablet was surrendered through counsel after investigators obtained a warrant.
Forensic imaging.
Then report.
Folder:
Cassidy Signature Originals.
Inside were six PDFs.
My tax election.
A trust acknowledgment.
An old medical power form.
A real estate closing.
Two corporate consents.
All signed.
Another folder:
CARTER.
Screenshots of my prenup schedule.
Trust name.
Entity codes.
Old emails between me and Arthur.
Then a spreadsheet.
Carter Asset Guess.
Columns:
Real estate 12M?
Family fund 20 to 40?
Private company interests unknown.
Possible total 60M plus.
So Brendan believed I might be worth perhaps sixty million.
Enough to call me rich?
Apparently not by Morrison standards.
Diane’s family had once controlled assets worth billions, though their personal net worth was far smaller after dilution.
They still lived like name was balance sheet.
Then a note:
If trust controlled, collateral maybe 100M.
Need assignment first.
They had no idea about Northcross.
Another file:
MORRISON RESTORATION.
There it was.
Diane’s language.
A presentation.
Morrison Vale founded 1978 by Henry Morrison and Thomas Vale.
Legacy family stake once 42%.
Northcross recapitalization reduced Morrison voting control.
Goal:
Restore meaningful family influence.
Step one:
Secure Carter trust collateral.
Step two:
Harbor Ridge financing.
Step three:
Acquire Northcross block or purchase enough minority shares to force strategic review.
Step four:
Reconstitute board.
Step five:
Leadership transition.
A slide:
BRENDAN MORRISON
Chief Executive Candidate.
JESSICA LANE
Chief Brand and Communications Candidate.
DIANE MORRISON
Family Chair.
Jessica was not simply girlfriend laughing at table.
She had career expectations.
Arthur said:
“She worked in luxury marketing. They planned role.”
Then transfer.
Could Brendan honestly believe he did not submit forged document?
The tablet history showed PDF created on his personal laptop.
Digital certificate copied.
But who clicked final submit?
Custodian portal login was from Morrison Strategic Partners.
Credential belonged to Diane’s administrator account.
The email transmission originated Diane’s home office IP.
Witness Diane.
More than one hand.
Then Jessica’s messages.
Police and corporate counsel obtained relevant messages through devices and civil process later.
Initially, Brendan had sent:
Need her signature page.
Jessica:
She won’t sign if she reads.
Brendan:
Mom thinks dinner will pressure.
Jessica:
Cassidy loves acting morally superior. Humiliate her enough and she’ll leave papers just to get out.
My stomach turned.
Humiliate her enough.
So water may have been planned as coercion.
Then Diane:
I’ll handle.
Jessica:
Don’t do anything crazy.
Diane:
Please. She’s fragile, not porcelain.
Jessica:
Pregnant.
Diane:
Exactly why she’ll want this finished.
That line.
Not intent to harm baby.
But willingness to exploit pregnancy.
Then Brendan:
If she signs Schedule D, morning filing cured.
Jessica:
And if not?
Brendan:
We tell Harbor Ridge she verbally agreed and get counsel tomorrow.
Fraud architecture.
Then the question that haunted.
Why did they think I would sign after humiliation?
Because for years I had left rooms quietly.
When Diane insulted my clothes, I smiled.
When Brendan interrupted, I stopped talking.
When Jessica appeared during separation, I did not make public scene.
They mistook restraint for surrender.
Then Elise asked:
“Do you want protective order?”
I considered.
Brendan had shoved me.
Diane doused.
Jessica participated harassment.
No contact was sensible.
“Yes.”
Temporary civil order sought based on documented incident, subject hearing.
No dramatic blanket family ban.
Then pregnancy.
My obstetrician ordered follow up.
Baby fine.
I moved from townhouse temporarily to a secure apartment owned by Northcross? Could.
Not because I feared assassination.
Because my address had become central to legal dispute and corporate security recommended.
I hated that.
I had chosen small townhouse to build quiet life after divorce.
Now again, Brendan’s choices displaced me.
Then I asked Arthur:
“Why did Harbor Ridge know more?”
He had answer.
A junior analyst at Harbor Ridge had connected Carter Legacy Settlement entity codes to Northcross private filings and lender disclosure records.
They inferred.
Instead of warning Brendan fully, Lucas Kline kept information close.
Why?
If Harbor Ridge financed against trust controlling Northcross, it could gain leverage over both sides.
They may have seen chance to capture control cheaply.
That was being investigated.
No evidence yet criminal conspiracy.
Then an internal Harbor Ridge memo obtained through lender inquiry said:
Borrower appears unaware that proposed collateral may include indirect control rights over target seller.
I read three times.
Target seller:
Northcross.
Borrower:
Brendan and Diane.
They were attempting to borrow against the seller in order to buy the seller’s asset.
And their lender knew.
Arthur said:
“Harbor Ridge has suspended Kline.”
Good.
Then:
“They want meeting.”
“With me?”
“With Northcross counsel.”
“Not me.”
I was physical victim and owner.
Independent.
Then phone rang.
Unknown number.
I answered despite better judgment.
Jessica.
“Cassidy.”
My attorney gestured no. I put speaker with her present.
“What?”
“I didn’t know they forged.”
“Stop.”
She cried.
“I swear.”
“You wrote ‘if she signs Schedule D, morning filing cured.’”
Silence.
“You knew there was a morning filing.”
“I thought it was preliminary.”
“You knew my signature was on it?”
“No.”
“Then what needed curing?”
No answer.
Then she whispered:
“Brendan said you had agreed before.”
“When?”
“He said during divorce.”
False.
Then:
“Why were you on a presentation giving yourself an executive title?”
She breathed.
“Because Diane promised if buyout happened.”
“Did you believe my trust was collateral?”
“Yes.”
“Did you know it was mine?”
“Yes.”
“Did you know I had not agreed?”
Silence.
That was enough.
I handed phone to Elise.
The call ended.
An hour later, Jessica retained criminal counsel.
By evening, she offered to cooperate.
May you like
And the first thing she gave investigators was a photograph of Diane holding my old tablet at her dining room table two nights before the transfer.
Continue to the next part: Jessica’s photograph showed Diane using my signature file, but the person beside her was Brendan, not Jessica.
