All Chapters of The Inheritance Clause: Chapter 111 - Chapter 120

139 Chapters

CHAPTER 111: Champagne at One

POV: Selene CastellanoAvalon came back with the bottle and two glasses, still half asleep, hair a mess, wearing nothing but pajama pants.“You actually got up for this,” Selene said."My sister-in-law is getting married, so we need to celebrate with some champagne." As he put the glasses on the table, he struggled a bit to open the bottle. "Now that I'm up, I might as well get something done."The cork suddenly popped, making a louder sound than they had anticipated.Selene burst out laughing and quickly grabbed the bottle, just in time, before it spilled all over the sheets."Give her a call," he said, "and put it on speakerphone."Selene dialed.Maya answered on the second ring, breathless, laughing.“Lena.”“You’re engaged.”Maya's voice was shaking with excitement as she shared the news. "I'm engaged!" she exclaimed. It had happened on the roof of the community center, the one with the stunning view that everyone in town loved. He had chosen that perfect spot to pop the question,

CHAPTER 112: Five to Zero

POV: Selene CastellanoThe glow of the phone cast a sharp beam of light on Avalon's face, creating a harsh line that stood out against her jaw.Selene squinted at the screen over his shoulder."The final score was 5-0," she exclaimed. "I can hardly believe it, they really pulled it off."Avalon didn’t move. Just stared at the words like they might rearrange themselves into something else."The board finally made a decision," he said. "They voted to get rid of the rules that were holding things back." He was talking about Henderson's proposal, which everyone agreed on. There was no one who disagreed. He stopped for a moment before continuing. "The part of the will that said you had to be married to get something? That's not valid anymore."Selene sat up.“What does that mean exactly.”“It means the year is over,” he said. “ Legally. The moment this is filed, nothing requires us to stay married.” His voice was careful. Too careful. “ Nobody’s forcing either of us to be here anymore.”Se

CHAPTER 113: Found Dead

POV: Avalon PierceDiana called before he could call her."You've seen it," she said.Avalon gazed out the window, his phone still pressed to his ear, as he spoke to the person on the other end. Selene stood beside him, her eyes fixed on her own screen, where she was reading the same article that had caught Avalon's attention. "What happened?" he asked, his voice low and curious, as he tried to make sense of the news that was unfolding before him.The cause of death was cardiac arrest, it happened sometime during the night, and a guard found the body while doing a routine check."Officially.""The prison where he was being held had cameras all over the place, but for some reason, his cell was the one spot where they didn't work so well. There was this one area near the door that was basically a blind spot, and it wasn't like it was a secret or anything - it had been pointed out in not one, but two inspection reports before. But somehow, nobody had ever gotten around to fixing it. Dian

CHAPTER 114: The Name

POV: Selene CastellanoShe opened the email with her hands not quite steady.One line.Catherine. I’m so sorry. It’s Catherine.Selene read it three times.She sat perfectly still, surrounded by darkness, the only light coming from the phone in her hand, and a chill began to spread through her chest, settling in like a heavy weight.Avalon stirred beside her.“Selene,” he murmured. “ What’s wrong.”She didn’t answer immediately.He sat up properly now, alert.“Selene.”She turned the phone toward him.He read it.Read it again.“That’s not possible,” he said."Selene spoke softly, saying, "Margaret wouldn't send it if she wasn't pretty sure, even if it means she might be wrong.""“My mother,” Avalon said. “ You’re saying my mother had Robert Laine killed and now Whitmore?”Selene just shook her head, "I'm not talking, Margaret is."He was already calling.Margaret picked up the phone right away, it was like she was expecting the call.“Tell me everything,” Avalon said. No greeting.Ma

CHAPTER 115: Not Her

POV: Avalon PierceAvalon noticed that Catherine, seated across from them with her hands clasped together, appeared worn out, her expression more fatigued than remorseful."Catherine spoke in a hushed tone, 'Margaret is mistaken about who has control over that account, or to be more precise, she's correct about the flow of money, but incorrect about the person actually pulling the strings.'""Explain," Selene said.Catherine spoke up, "The account is mine, but after I was in the hospital, I gave someone permission to handle my finances." She paused, looking down at her hands. "I trusted Diana to take care of things while I was getting better," she said, her voice a little shaky.The room went very still."Diana worked with the government to build our case," Avalon explained, choosing his words carefully. "Without her, we wouldn't have half the evidence we do today.""She cooperated," Catherine said, "and in doing so, she made herself useful to the prosecutor and invisible to suspicion

CHAPTER 116: Who Knew

POV: Selene Castellano"Someone who was aware of her access to Catherine's account," Selene repeated, her voice slower and more deliberate. "That narrows it down to a very small group of people."Avalon was quiet, working through it."Margaret," he said, mentioning a few names, "Catherine, Diana herself, and whoever was responsible for preparing the power of attorney documents.""Whoever Diana had confided in," Selene wondered, "if indeed she had shared it with anyone at all."Avalon called Diana directly.She picked up on the second ring, her voice husky from sleep.“It’s two thirty in the morning,” she said.Avalon's voice was direct, no time for small talk. "Did you make any calls to the federal facility where Whitmore was being held?" he asked, his words cutting straight to the point. "Specifically, in the two weeks leading up to his death?"Silence.“Diana.”"No," she said, her voice suddenly sharp and alert, a complete departure from its previous tone. "I haven't called that fac

CHAPTER 117 : David Reeves

POV: Avalon PierceJames got to the place pretty quickly, he had been sleeping when Avalon called him, but he jumped in his car and drove right over.He stood there, taking it all in, as they laid out the entire story - Catherine's side of things, the phone calls that had been made using Diana's number, and the shocking news of Whitmore's death."I'm telling you, I didn't make those calls," James said, his voice firm as they wrapped up. "I can account for my whereabouts on each of those nights, every single one of them. But it's clear someone was trying to make it look like it was me, trying to throw you off their trail."“Who had access to enough information to set this up?” Selene asked. “ Who knew about Diana’s number, about Catherine’s financial arrangement, about the timeline?”Avalon’s phone buzzed.Margaret.She went back and looked at everything again, every single call, introduction, and piece of information that had been part of the investigation over the past two months. An

CHAPTER 118: The Apartment

POV: Selene CastellanoThings started happening quickly at the FBI after they got Margaret's information.In the morning, a team from the federal government had joined forces with the local police. Avalon and Selene were now seated in a conference room at the Bureau's office in San Francisco. Across from them was Agent Patricia Nunez. She was the one who had taken over the Whitmore case after he passed away.“We found Reeves’ apartment,” Nunez said, sliding a folder across the table. “ Empty. Cleared out fast, but not fast enough. He left things behind.”Selene opened the folder.Photographs of an apartment, sparse and impersonal, it was the kind of place someone lived in without ever calling it home.And then, photographs of a wall.A corkboard, covered in printouts, photographs, handwritten notes connected by red string in a pattern that made Selene’s stomach turn.Pictures of Avalon, Selene, and Nene were scattered around, along with a decades-old photo of Robert Laine that seemed

CHAPTER 119: Tonight

POV: Avalon PierceSelene spoke up as soon as they stepped back into the apartment, her voice firm and reassuring, "You're not going alone."“He said alone.”"I don't care what he said," she snapped, her voice low and even, but with a hint of restrained fury. "A man who's likely responsible for two deaths just asked you to meet him in private - that's not a discussion, Avalon, that's a setup, a trap waiting to happen."“I know that.”“Then why are you considering it.”He looked at her."He seemed to know a secret about Nene, something she had kept hidden. I was determined to find out what it was."Selene suggested they could get the information they needed through the FBI, maybe by talking to Margaret or someone else they trusted. She definitely didn't want to go into a room alone with the guy who had her face plastered on his corkboard - that just seemed like a really bad idea.He didn’t answer immediately.She crossed the room and stood in front of him.“Avalon.”“I’m listening.”"W

CHAPTER 120: That Night

POV: Avalon Pierce"Have a seat," Reeves said, motioning to the chair on the other side of the desk, where the soft glow of the lamp cast a warm light. "This is going to take some time," he added, his voice low and gentle, inviting her to get comfortable.Avalon didn’t sit.“Tell me,” he said.Reeves looked at him for a bit, then gave a small shrug, like it didn't really matter that Avalon wasn't going to cooperate."Reeves revealed a shocking truth, his words hanging in the air like a challenge. Your father, he said, had been quietly gathering evidence to take down Whitmore. You were already aware of that much, but what you hadn't known was that Nene was in the loop - and not just after your father's death, but before it even happened. The implications were staggering, and the question was, what did Nene plan to do with that knowledge?"Avalon felt something cold settle into his chest.He disagreed, saying that the letters told a different story. Apparently, Robert Laine had written

...

9 10 11 12 13 14

SCAN CODE TO READ ON APP