Chapter 8 - The Trust Fund War
Jacob stared at the divorce papers as if they were written in a foreign language.
"Divorce?" he choked out, standing up quickly. "Helen, no! You can't divorce me over this! I didn't lock you out! I didn't poison your tea! I loved you!"
"You loved the quiet version of me that let your family walk all over her," I said. "That woman froze to death on that balcony on Thanksgiving night. The woman sitting here is the mother of two boys who almost died because of your family's greed."
"It wasn't about greed for me!" Jacob shouted, tears streaming down his face. "I didn't care about the trust fund!"
"Then you were an idiot," I retorted. "Because your mother and sister cared about nothing else. They spent years planning how to claim that inheritance, and when my pregnancy threatened their control, they tried to erase my babies."
"I'll give up the trust!" Jacob begged, reaching for my hand. "I don't want a single dime of my grandfather's money! I just want you and the boys!"
"You don't have a choice about the trust anymore, Jacob," I said, pulling out a legal document provided by my attorney. "My legal team already audited the Swift Family Trust agreement this morning. Because your sister committed a violent felony against direct heirs to the estate, the probate court has officially frozen the entire trust asset pool pending the outcome of Brenda's criminal trial."
Jacob's jaw dropped. "What?"
"Brenda’s legal defense was going to be paid for using the trust funds," I continued with a cold smile. "Your mother spent fifty thousand dollars from the corporate reserve this morning to retain a high-profile criminal attorney. But because the trust is frozen, that retainer check just bounced."
Jacob staggered backward, hitting the wall. Without the trust money, Evelyn and Brenda had no liquid assets. Evelyn was a retired socialite who lived off her late husband's dwindling annuity, and Brenda’s salary as an administrative assistant wouldn't even cover the court filing fees for a felony defense.
They were completely, utterly broke.
"Helen, please..." Jacob whined, realizing the sheer magnitude of the trap his family had walked into. "Brenda will go to prison for twenty years if she doesn't have a good lawyer!"
"She belongs in prison for twenty years," I said coldly. "She tried to murder two unborn children and leave me to freeze to death. She should consider herself lucky she isn't facing a life sentence."
I pointed toward the exit door.
"Sign the custody agreement and get out of my room, Jacob. If you step foot in the NICU without my written permission, hospital security will have you arrested for violating the restraining order."
Jacob looked at me, seeing for the very first time that the gentle, patient woman he had married was gone. In her place stood an iron-willed mother who would stop at nothing to protect her children.
May you like
With trembling hands, Jacob pulled a pen from his jacket, signed the acknowledgement of service on the divorce papers, and laid them gently on the table.
He didn't say another word. He turned around, his shoulders slumped in defeat, and walked out of the room.
