The Virgin’s Bucket List – Episode 32
Wayne deleted the flight reservation but kept the email. Grant’s demand that he travel alone confirmed every warning in Catherine’s letter. Still, the promise of hidden truth pulled at him with the same force as the blue box.
Lindsay argued that Grant wanted isolation, not conversation. If Wayne responded, he should choose the location and witnesses. Wayne agreed, though part of him resented needing protection from a grandfather he barely remembered.
An independent attorney reviewed the trust documents the next morning. She confirmed that Wayne and Jamie were beneficiaries of a substantial education fund. Grant retained administrative power only until Jamie’s eighteenth birthday, provided neither boy signed a release.
The university’s early commitment packet included exactly such a release. Buried beneath medical and publicity clauses, it transferred claims against affiliated donors. Signing could have surrendered Wayne’s right to challenge Grant’s management of the trust.
Mr. Russell was horrified when Wayne showed him. He insisted standard athletic packets did not contain that language. Someone inside the university had replaced the final pages before sending the offer.
Wayne withdrew from the campus visit until the school investigated. The decision threatened his strongest scholarship opportunity, but he refused to exchange one future for another without knowing the cost. Mike supported him publicly.
Grant responded within an hour. He agreed to meet at Maple Hill’s most visible café, a location too public for physical danger. He also permitted Wayne to bring Lindsay, though he referred to her as Catherine’s daughter rather than by name.
The wording unsettled Lindsay. Grant had known who she was before Wayne mentioned her. She wondered how closely he had monitored both families.
Grant arrived in an immaculate suit and greeted Wayne as if they had shared holidays rather than silence. His warmth was controlled, every smile calibrated to appear generous. Lindsay recognized a different version of Alyssa’s talent for making domination look like confidence.
He called Catherine a loyal friend who became confused during her illness. According to him, the blue boxes contained suspicions rather than evidence. The trust had always been protected for both boys.
Wayne placed the altered scholarship packet on the table. Grant did not pretend surprise. He said powerful families used legal agreements to prevent public accusations from damaging everyone involved.
Lindsay asked what accusation he feared. Grant looked at her with cool amusement and said Catherine had filled her head with heroic stories. In reality, Catherine had accepted money to help Evelyn disappear.
Wayne rejected the claim. Grant produced a bank record showing a large payment to Catherine months before the Adams family left Maple Hill. The amount was real enough to disturb them.
Lindsay knew her mother had struggled to pay medical bills. If Catherine received hidden money, why had the family remained in debt? Grant suggested she ask Mike what happened to it.
He offered Wayne a new arrangement. Sign the university commitment, abandon the trust investigation, and Grant would fund Jamie’s counseling and education separately. Both brothers could have security without public scandal.
Wayne said Jamie was not a bargaining chip. Grant replied that principles were easy when someone else paid the consequences. If Wayne challenged him, the trust would remain frozen in litigation for years.
Lindsay secretly recorded the conversation on her phone. As they rose to leave, Grant leaned close enough for only her to hear. He knew about her journalism program and could make the invitation disappear before summer.
Outside the café, Lindsay told Wayne that Grant had threatened her. Before she could play the recording, her phone reset itself, erasing the audio and every photograph connected to the blue boxes.