Chapter 3 - THE TRUST THEIR FATHER LEFT
Their father, James Barrymore, died nine years earlier.
He had not been extravagantly wealthy.
Comfortable.
Responsible.
The kind of man who used coupons while owning three rental properties.
He left Maggie and Drew equal shares of most assets.
But he also established an educational trust for grandchildren.
Maggie remembered it.
Vaguely.
She had been executor of the estate for only six months before transferring trust administration to a bank.
She assumed it had been fully distributed.
Aaron showed her otherwise.
The trust remained active.
Current beneficiaries:
Theo Barrymore.
Cody Howerin.
Olivia Howerin.
Three children.
The trust paid school expenses based on trustee approval.
Maggie frowned.
“Then why have I been paying Cody and Olivia separately?”
Aaron looked at her.
“Because Drew told you the trust was exhausted.”
Maggie felt stupid.
Again.
“When?”
“Four years ago, according to your emails.”
She remembered.
Drew crying at lunch.
Dad's fund is basically gone.
School is killing me.
Can you help until I get stable?
Maggie helped.
And kept helping.
“How much remains?”
Aaron turned a page.
Enough to pay reasonable tuition for all three children through high school.
Maybe college depending on investment returns.
Maggie stared.
“Then where did my personal tuition payments go?”
“That is one of the things we're tracing.”
Some reached the schools.
Some did not.
Drew had submitted invoices to Maggie for tuition already paid by the trust.
Double reimbursement.
Maggie closed her eyes.
“She billed me twice.”
“Yes.”
“For years?”
“Possibly.”
“Why didn't the school notice?”
“They wouldn't. One payment came from the trust. Your reimbursement went to Drew.”
The cruelty of the birthday suddenly sat beside something else.
Entitlement with infrastructure.
Maggie had taught Drew, unintentionally, that any problem could be monetized.
Drew learned to generate problems.
Then Aaron showed her the trustee.
Not the bank.
The trust had been modified after James died.
A successor trustee had been named.
Drew.
Maggie stared.
“That can't be right.”
“Your father signed an amendment two months before he died.”
“Why Drew?”
Aaron slid over a letter from James.
Maggie's hands trembled.
She read.
Maggie has always carried more than her share of this family. I do not want her managing another burden after I'm gone. Drew needs responsibility. Give her the chance to grow into it.
Maggie sat back.
Their father had trusted Drew not because she was reliable.
Because he hoped responsibility would make her reliable.
It had not.
The trust records showed fees.
Drew paid herself trustee compensation.
Allowed under the document.
But excessive?
Possibly.
She also approved expenses beyond education.
“Family transportation tied to schooling.”
“Student technology.”
“Development experiences.”
One development experience was a Caribbean vacation.
Maggie stared.
“She used Dad's trust for vacation?”
Aaron corrected:
“She characterized it as educational travel.”
Maggie laughed.
Then stopped.
“Can she do that?”
“Probably not under this trust language.”
“Can we remove her?”
“Yes, if breach is established.”
Maggie's first instinct was immediate.
Do it.
Then Theo came into the office carrying cereal.
“What are you doing?”
“Adult paperwork.”
“Boring?”
“Extremely.”
He looked at Aaron.
“You the guy who canceled Cody's car?”
Aaron looked at Maggie.
She nearly smiled.
“The car is Aunt Drew's.”
Theo shrugged.
“Okay.”
Then he said:
“Mom, can Cody come say sorry?”
Maggie froze.
“Did he ask?”
“He texted.”
Theo held up his tablet.
Maggie read the message.
sorry about cake mom told me it was funny
No punctuation.
No excuse beyond the truth.
Then another:
she said you always buy new stuff
Maggie stared at it.
Theo whispered:
“I think he really thought it was funny.”
Maggie looked at her son.
That did not erase the harm.
But it mattered.
Cody had learned a rule.
Destroy something.
Maggie replaces it.
Everyone laughs.
No real loss.
Yesterday he had applied the rule to Theo's birthday.
Maggie said:
“You can talk to him later. Not today.”
Theo nodded.
Then went upstairs.
Aaron watched him leave.
“Good kid.”
“Yes.”
Maggie looked back at the trust records.
“So is Cody.”
Aaron raised an eyebrow.
“He doesn't act like one.”
“He acted like what he was taught.”
Maggie tapped the binder.
“I am not going to punish children for their mother's fraud.”
“Good.”
“But Drew is done controlling this trust.”
Aaron nodded.
“And her support?”
Maggie thought.
“Separate child necessities from her lifestyle.”
“Meaning?”
“School stays paid directly. Medical stays. Anything the kids genuinely need.”
“And Drew?”
Maggie's face hardened.
“She can pay for herself.”
Aaron wrote it down.
Then his phone buzzed.
He glanced at it.
His expression changed.
“What?”
“The foundation investigator found who approved Cody's scholarship.”
Maggie waited.
Aaron looked at her.
“It wasn't an employee.”
“Then who?”
“A board member.”
Maggie's stomach tightened.
“Name.”
May you like
Aaron closed the binder.
“Your husband.”
