Chapter 8 - The Ambush in Chambers
“What are you doing here?” Richard snapped, stepping forward as Harrison scrambled to keep up. “This is a private legal proceeding. You were served with eviction notice paperwork yesterday afternoon!”
“Mr. Bennett, keep your voice down or I’ll have the bailiff escort you out into the hallway,” Judge Sterling’s clerk announced sharply from the open doorway of chambers. “Enter, counsel.”
We filed into the private chambers before Richard and his lawyer could recover their composure.
Judge Sterling sat behind a polished mahogany desk, looking over a stack of preliminary probate files. He glanced up as we entered, his eyes pausing briefly on Noah before resting on me.
“Counselor Vance,” the judge said. “You requested an emergency docket review at 8:00 AM this morning. I trust you have grounds that supersede the probate freeze filed yesterday by Bennett Logistics.”
“Indeed I do, Your Honor,” Vance said, stepping forward and placing the original briefcase files directly onto the judge’s desk. “We are presenting an unfiled, properly notarized codicil to the last will and testament of Mark Bennett, executed three weeks prior to his passing, which severs all corporate proxy ties and assigns absolute personal estate control to his surviving spouse, Laura Bennett.”
Harrison choked on his own spit, stepping forward. “Your Honor, that document is invalid! It was never registered with the corporate registry! Bennett Logistics holds controlling interest over all residential and financial assets tied to the deceased—”
“Quiet, Mr. Harrison,” Judge Sterling commanded, opening the thick leather-bound file and scanning the first page. Then he flipped to the shadow accounting records.
The courtroom atmosphere grew suffocatingly heavy. Judge Sterling’s eyes narrowed as he read through the itemized offshore wire transfers bearing Richard’s forged proxy signatures.
“Mr. Bennett,” Judge Sterling said slowly, lifting his gaze to look directly at my father-in-law. “Are these subsidiary accounts registered under your personal Cayman holding entity?”
Richard’s throat worked convulsively. He looked like a man standing on the edge of an open grave. “I... my legal team would need time to review those financial statements, Your Honor. They were pulled illegally—”
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“They were pulled by the chief executive officer of Bennett Logistics before his death,” Vance countered smoothly. “And they constitute massive corporate embezzlement and tax fraud.”
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