I Have Five Kick-Ass Brothers – Episode 42
The man on the screen introduced himself as Owen Lincoln, cousin to Raina’s father and former junior partner to the family attorney. Mr. Lincoln had not seen him in almost twenty years, not since Owen left Brookfield after being excluded from the company succession.
Owen claimed the marriage ledger proved the certificate’s filing trail, but he would release it only to Raina. His demand that she arrive without her brothers revealed the resentment beneath his performance of legality.
Mr. Lincoln explained that Owen once expected to inherit a senior role because the family had no daughter at home. When Noah came of age and demonstrated stronger leadership, Owen blamed all five sons for replacing him.
Raina saw the familiar pattern. Walter had used infants to punish adults, Melody had shaped her into an imagined heir, and now Owen treated her as leverage against brothers he envied. None of them cared what she wanted.
Joshua refused an unprotected meeting, but Raina proposed controlled compliance. She would enter the old office visibly alone while officers and her family monitored from adjoining buildings. The plan respected Owen’s condition without surrendering safety.
Theo did not argue. He helped test the concealed microphone and reminded her that leaving at any moment was not failure. Raina appreciated how completely he had learned the difference between support and command.
The abandoned legal office smelled of paper and dust. Owen waited behind a broad desk with the ledger open before him. Age had sharpened his resemblance to Mr. Lincoln, though bitterness made the family likeness difficult to see.
He congratulated Raina on surviving the brothers’ test and asked whether she truly believed they would share power once public sympathy faded. Raina replied that trust could be repaired through changed behavior; resentment disguised as prophecy repaired nothing.
Owen slid the ledger forward but kept one hand on it. The filing entry named him as authorized representative for both Raina and Theo. He had used the dead attorney’s credentials and seals preserved from old family cases.
His motive extended beyond humiliation. The forged marriage activated a dormant clause requiring both family groups to approve any transfer involving joint marital assets. Owen intended to freeze major transactions until the companies paid him to withdraw his claim.
Raina told him extortion would fail because the marriage was invalid. Owen smiled and produced a video showing Theo signing a blank ceremonial document at the Jones dinner. The signature had been transferred onto the certificate through digital fraud.
A second image showed Raina signing the gala guest register. Owen had assembled authentic handwriting, invalid consent, and corrupt seals into a record designed to survive long enough for financial damage.
Raina asked why he wanted her alone if the scheme was already complete. Owen admitted the final step required her voice authorization to access a Lincoln biometric trust. He expected fear for her brothers to make her cooperate.
She refused. Owen activated speakers throughout the room, playing a recording of Noah apparently ordering security to abandon her during the tunnel crisis. Raina recognized the stitched cadence immediately. After so many forged documents, manufactured audio could no longer imitate trust.
Outside, Luke confirmed the recording was synthetic. Joshua waited for the agreed signal, but Raina continued talking to locate the ledger’s hidden backup. Owen kept glancing toward a locked cabinet near the window.
She offered to consider authorization if he showed the original seals. Greed overcame caution. Owen opened the cabinet and revealed boxes of stolen legal instruments, correspondence, and data drives.
Raina touched her microphone twice, the signal Joshua needed. Officers entered from both corridors before Owen could destroy the evidence. He reached for the marriage ledger, but Raina pulled it across the desk first.
Owen was arrested without injury. As officers cataloged the cabinet, Noah entered only after Raina invited him. He did not ask whether she believed the false recording; her expression already answered.
The ledger proved Owen filed the certificate and manipulated both signatures. The court scheduled an expedited hearing to declare the marriage void and restore the public record.
Then investigators opened a drive labeled “After the Wedding.” Its contents showed Owen had already created a second certificate—one naming Coco, not Raina, as Theo’s legal wife.