Chapter 4 - Safe Deposit Box 417At precisely 8:00 AM, I pushed through the glass doors of First Valley Bank in downtown Chicago, holding Lily securely in a baby carrier against my chest. The rain had stopped, leaving behind a crisp, biting cold.
I walked up to the senior manager's counter and placed the brass key stamped 417 on the mahogany desk.
"I need access to Box 417," I said quietly. "My name is Diane Carter."
The manager, an elderly man named Mr. Henderson, looked up from his computer. The moment his eyes landed on the brass key, his expression shifted from polite indifference to sharp recognition.
"Mrs. Carter," he said, rising immediately from his chair. "Follow me, please. Evelyn arranged this four years ago. She gave explicit instructions that if you ever presented this key, you were to be given total privacy."
He led me down a carpeted staircase into a heavily fortified underground vault. He unlocked the master lock on a large steel box, inserted my brass key, and pulled out a heavy black leather folder. Beside it sat a high-speed encrypted flash drive and a smaller sealed envelope marked: FOR DIANE ONLY - EVIDENCE OF FORGERY.
"Take all the time you need, Mrs. Carter," Mr. Henderson said softly, closing the private viewing room door behind him.
I unzipped the leather folder.
The very first document inside was the original incorporation contract for Carter Enterprises from fifteen years ago.
I turned to the signature page. My hand froze.
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My name wasn't listed as a witness, an administrator, or a minor shareholder.
It was listed right at the top, printed in bold legal font: DIANE CARTER — 51% MAJORITY OWNER.
