Chapter 6
The hospital lawyer who prepared the original power of attorney was still practicing.
His name was Harold Weiss.
He met with Rebecca voluntarily after Sienna signed a release.
He remembered the circumstances.
Young pregnant woman.
Powerful family.
Emergency-planning pressure.
He remembered Marjorie more clearly than Gavin.
“She was very involved.”
Sienna stared.
“In my documents?”
“She coordinated the appointment.”
“Why?”
“She said your family structure was complicated and your husband needed authority if you were incapacitated.”
“Did I ask for a durable power?”
Weiss hesitated.
“My notes say the client wanted practical continuity.”
“That is not what I asked.”
“No.”
He looked uncomfortable.
“I do not have a note saying you specifically requested durability beyond the medical event.”
Rebecca leaned forward.
“Did you explain it?”
“I would have.”
“Your normal practice?”
“Yes.”
“Do you remember doing it?”
“No.”
That was not enough to invalidate the document.
It was enough to raise questions about how Marjorie had framed the engagement.
Weiss produced his old file.
Inside was an email from Marjorie sent before the appointment:
Please ensure authority does not terminate merely because Sienna recovers. Gavin will need ongoing flexibility with family assets. She finds financial paperwork stressful.
Sienna’s face changed.
“I never said that.”
Weiss looked sick.
“I thought she was speaking for the family.”
Rebecca said nothing.
Another email came from Gavin:
Keep it broad but routine. No reason to alarm her before delivery.
Third clue.
Seven years earlier, before Mila was even born, Gavin had been comfortable with Sienna holding less information about the document than he did.
The current refinance was not a sudden desperate idea.
It grew from a power imbalance built into their marriage from the beginning.
Still, Part 10 had not arrived.
There was a difference between having an old broad document and planning a multimillion-dollar misuse.
Rebecca wanted to know when Gavin decided the power could become a financial escape hatch.
Daniel found the answer in Southline’s banking archive.
Four years earlier, when Gavin took over administrative management, he supplied the old power of attorney to the bank.
No transaction required it at the time.
The relationship manager asked why it was being added.
Gavin wrote:
Estate convenience. Avoid delay if Sienna is unavailable.
He had preserved it deliberately.
May you like
The document Sienna forgot had been sitting inside Southline’s bank file for four years.
Waiting.
