Nora reached out to grab his arm. “At least stay down here on the couch until we can get a professional exterminator out here tomorrow morning.”
Edgar shoved her hand away in annoyance. “I am not going to sleep on a couch in my own house just because you are acting completely paranoid.”
He turned away and walked up the staircase, his heavy footsteps echoing down the hallway until the bedroom door clicked firmly shut.
Downstairs, Kristina remained frozen in the middle of the kitchen, her hands shaking violently. She could still save her only child if she ran up those stairs and dragged him out of that room, yet she remained rooted to the spot out of sheer self-preservation.
Nora grabbed her mobile phone, stepped out onto the back patio, and immediately called emergency service providers. While she was explaining to the dispatcher that a venomous reptile was inside the residence, a heavy thud echoed from the second floor, followed by absolute silence.
Paramedics and local responders arrived shortly after, forcing their way into the master bedroom where they found Edgar unconscious on the carpet beside the mattress. He had been bitten directly while lying down, and due to his extreme intoxication and the delay in treatment, medical personnel could not revive him.
Kristina let out a blood-curdling scream that vibrated off the high ceilings of the foyer. She stared at Nora with wild eyes, then looked back toward the staircase, realizing with horror that her own trap had just claimed her only son.
Seconds later, Kristina clutched her chest in agony and collapsed onto the tile floor.
Although she survived the massive heart attack and subsequent stroke, the medical crisis left her with permanently reduced mobility throughout the left side of her body.
The police opened a detailed investigation regarding the deadly snake, while Kristina insisted desperately from her hospital bed that the incident was a tragic freak accident. Nora remained quiet for the moment, choosing not to reveal what she had witnessed through the bedroom door until she understood the whole truth about Heather Perkinson.
The truth emerged shortly after the funeral service concluded.
Wayne Chappell, Nora’s corporate legal counsel, uncovered a series of recurring monthly bank transfers that Edgar had been quietly making for nearly three years to a woman named Heather Perkinson. The funds were covering luxury apartment rent, lavish weekend trips, credit card balances, and private medical bills.
“Nora,” Wayne Chappell said gently during a private consultation, “Heather Perkinson is currently seven months pregnant.”
That very afternoon, Nora returned home to find three of Edgar’s distant relatives standing outside her front security gate. Standing directly in the middle of the group was a young, stylishly dressed woman who was softly stroking her visible baby bump.
Heather Perkinson offered a cold, triumphant smile. “I assume you already know who I am by now. This baby is Edgar’s legal son, and I am here to collect his rightful portion of the family inheritance.”
Before Nora could say a word, one of Edgar’s aunts stepped forward aggressively. “Since you were never capable of giving him a real family, the only decent thing to do is sign this house over to his actual heir.”
Nora unlocked the iron gate without emotion. “Step inside, and tomorrow morning we can discuss every single penny Edgar left behind.”
Heather Perkinson smiled warmly at the relatives, convinced she had won the confrontation, completely unaware that the vast fortune she was claiming did not exist.
PART 3
The following morning, Heather Perkinson arrived at Nora’s corporate headquarters accompanied by the same three relatives from the Finch family line. She strolled into the executive conference room as though she were attending a closing meeting for a property she already owned.
“I hope we do not have to make this process difficult,” Heather Perkinson remarked casually, placing her expensive handbag onto the glass table. “I am pregnant, so I do not want to spend hours arguing back and forth. Edgar made it clear to me many times that this distribution firm was half his.”
Nora remained seated at the head of the table alongside her attorney. “Then this meeting will be very straightforward. Wayne, please explain to everyone exactly what Edgar left behind.”
Wayne Chappell opened a thick blue legal folder and pulled out the property deeds to the Paradise Valley estate. The documents proved the home was purchased exclusively under Nora’s name and fully protected by a strict prenuptial agreement establishing a total separation of personal assets.
Next, Wayne Chappell produced the official vehicle titles, demonstrating that both luxury cars were registered solely under Nora’s company name.
Then he pulled out the corporate ownership filings. Edgar was never listed as a shareholder or partner in the business, owning zero percent of the company’s equity, which Nora had established years before they met.
Heather Perkinson’s confident posture instantly melted away. “That is completely impossible. Edgar told me directly that he built this whole company alongside you.”
“Edgar claimed a lot of things that were not true,” Nora replied smoothly.
Wayne Chappell placed a second folder onto the table, which contained Edgar’s actual estate documentation. It contained a nearly empty personal checking account, a few personal items, and shared rights to a small rural parcel of land that carried a heavy mortgage balance.
Then Wayne Chappell laid out Edgar’s personal financial liabilities.
There were massive credit card balances, unsecured personal loans, a bank loan secured against the rural land, and dozens of unpaid lines of credit Edgar had taken out to fund a high-end lifestyle his modest salary could never support. His total personal debt exceeded eight million dollars.
Heather Perkinson blinked rapidly, staring at the financial summary in total disbelief. “Eight million dollars in debt?”
“Correct,” Wayne Chappell confirmed. “Creditors have the legal right to collect their payments directly from the estate’s remaining assets before any named heir receives a single dollar. Because the liabilities far outweigh the assets, there is simply no inheritance to distribute.”
One of the aunts immediately gathered her coat and stood up from her chair. “Well, we only came along today to provide emotional support.”
“Ten minutes ago, you were insisting that my personal property belonged to your family,” Nora noted dryly.
The aunt said nothing as she quietly ushered the other relatives out the door, suddenly losing all interest in Edgar’s unborn heir.
Heather Perkinson sat frozen in her seat, staring down at her designer accessories, then at her bank statements that Nora slid across the table. The records detailed thousands of dollars spent on high-end restaurants, a luxury apartment rental, weekend getaways, designer footwear, and spa treatments.
“Edgar told me all of those expenses were paid out of his business profits,” Heather Perkinson whispered, tears welling up in her eyes.
“They were paid with borrowed money that he could never afford to repay,” Nora clarified calmly.
Heather Perkinson slumped back into her chair, utterly defeated. For years, she believed she was in a relationship with a wealthy entrepreneur who simply kept his finances quiet, when in reality he was living off his wife’s wealth while drowning in debt to impress his mistress.
“I had no idea about any of this,” Heather Perkinson sobbed quietly into her hands.
“The baby is not responsible for any of Edgar’s actions,” Nora stated, her tone firm yet fair. “If paternity is legally established after the birth, your child will inherit whatever tiny amount remains in Edgar’s personal estate after the creditors finish their claims. However, you cannot inherit a residence that belonged to me or corporate shares that never existed.”
That evening, Nora personally searched the private suite where Kristina had been staying. Deep inside the back of the walk-in closet, she discovered a heavy black trash bag containing the thick leather work gloves and the canvas sack used to carry the snake.
Nora avoided touching the items and immediately called Wayne Chappell, who coordinated with local law enforcement to submit the evidence to the prosecutor’s office alongside Nora’s sworn statement.