Chapter 13 - The Broken Trust
That evening, after Zia was safely upstairs working on a science project, I laid Julian Vance’s business card right in the middle of the kitchen island.
Travis walked in, poured himself a glass of water, and saw the card. His jaw clenched so hard a muscle twitched in his cheek.
"He was at the school?" Travis asked, his voice dropping into a dangerous register.
"At the front gates, waiting for Zia to walk out," I said, crossing my arms. "They’re trying a different angle now. Not lawsuits over the main house, but technicalities around the carriage house parcel. They want to prove the property split was improperly registered so they can force a subdivision right in our backyard."
Travis pulled out his phone, dialed our attorney’s direct line, and hit speakerphone.
"Mark, it’s Travis Miller. We have a breach of the settlement agreement," Travis said without preamble. "Julian Vance just intercepted my wife at a public school trying to intimidate us over the carriage house parcel... No, I don't want to negotiate a settlement. I want a complete injunction filed by tomorrow morning for harassment and tortious interference."
After a sharp, five-minute conversation, Travis hung up the phone and rubbed the bridge of his nose.
"Mark is pulling the original filings from the county recorder’s office," Travis sighed, walking over to the sink. "He said Lorraine must have hidden a secondary deed modification right before she handed over the trust. If Vance is this desperate, it means there’s a loophole she thought she could exploit from the grave."
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"Can they actually take the carriage house back?" I asked, a knot forming in my stomach.
"Only if we missed a signature on the amended transfer," Travis said grimly. "And if we did, it means Vance has legal standing to step foot back onto this property."
