Chapter 5: The Signature That Shouldn't Exist
Nadia went pale when James turned the screen toward her.
“Is this your signature?””
She leaned closer, studying the scanned document.
“Yes.””
James's chair scraped backward.
“You witnessed this?””
“No. I mean, that's my signature, but I didn't witness this document.””
Margaret lifted a hand.
“Everyone needs to slow down. Nadia, when did you last sign anything containing your signature?””
“Last year, when I was hired permanently. There were employment forms, confidentiality agreements, and some payroll documents.””
“Could someone have copied your signature from one of those?””
Nadia swallowed.
“Yes.””
James looked at the document again.
The wording was formal, precise, and deeply troubling. It claimed that he had granted a private company broad rights to Sophie's image and recordings. The company named in the document was Northstar Creative.
The witness declaration contained Nadia's name and a signature that appeared to match hers.
At the bottom, a notary's stamp was partially visible.
Margaret enlarged the image.
“We need the original document and the notary's records before we can establish whether this was properly executed. A scan alone doesn't tell us who signed it, who witnessed it, or whether the text was altered.””
James rubbed his jaw.
“But I never authorized this.””
“Then we document that fact and investigate how the document was created.””
Nadia looked close to tears.
“Victoria told me the paperwork was only for the foundation's website. She said the lawyers needed permission to use family photographs.””
“Did you sign any consent forms?”” Margaret asked.
“I signed a few documents that she handed me. I never saw this one.””
“Did you ever witness James Mercer signing anything for Northstar Creative?””
“No.””
“Did you ever watch him sign a document relating to Sophie's image rights?””
“No.””
Margaret wrote down both answers.
James stood and walked toward the window.
The morning sun illuminated the garden outside, where the groundskeeper was trimming the hedges. Beyond the glass, everything looked peaceful and orderly.
Inside, the family he thought he knew was coming apart one document at a time.
“How could Northstar have used Sophie's image rights without my consent?”” he asked.
Margaret closed the laptop.
“We don't know yet. The company may have relied on this document, another agreement, or some other arrangement. We need to verify its records and identify the people responsible for submitting it.””
“And if it was forged?””
“Then that is a serious matter. But we don't label it a forgery until we have the evidence.””
James turned.
“How long will that take?””
“Some questions may be answered quickly. Others won't. In the meantime, we can notify the company that the document is disputed and demand that it preserve all relevant records.””
He nodded.
“Do it.””
Margaret drafted the notice while Nadia sat with both hands wrapped around a glass of water. Every few minutes, she glanced at the door as though expecting Victoria to appear.
James noticed.
“Has she contacted you?””
Nadia looked down.
“Six times since last night.””
“What does she want?””
“She wants me to come to the house and explain why I kept the videos.””
“Have you replied?””
“No.””
“Don't meet her alone. If she contacts you, preserve the messages and speak with Margaret.””
Nadia nodded.
Then she reached into her pocket and took out a folded sheet of paper.
“I brought this, too.””
James opened it.
It was a handwritten note on Ashdown House stationery.
Please ensure all unreleased material featuring Sophie is removed from the shared editing drive before Monday. No duplicate files are to be retained by contractors. Confirm once completed.
At the bottom was Victoria's signature.
The date was from the previous month.
James looked up.
“Who was this sent to?””
“Me. I was responsible for organizing the campaign materials.””
“Did you delete the files?””
“Some. But I kept the ones I showed you.””
“Why?””
Nadia looked toward the window.
“Because Sophie came to me after one of the filming sessions. She asked whether I could make a video disappear.””
James felt his throat tighten.
“What did you tell her?””
“I told her I would try.””
Nadia began to cry.
“She asked me if people could still see her when the phone was turned off. I told her no. I thought that was what she needed to hear.””
James sat down opposite her.
“What happened next?””
“She told me that Mummy said the videos belonged to the family, and that Sophie wasn't allowed to ask for them to be removed.””
James closed his eyes.
A seven-year-old child had understood that she didn't want strangers watching her suffer. She had sought help from the one adult in the house who seemed willing to listen.
And that adult had been too frightened to do more.
He didn't blame Nadia for Victoria's actions. But he understood how fear had allowed those actions to continue.
“Thank you for keeping the evidence,” he said.
Nadia wiped her cheeks.
“I should have done more.””
“Yes,” James said quietly.
“But what matters now is what we do next.””
By noon, Margaret had contacted Northstar Creative through formal channels. She requested preservation of all contracts, payment records, image-rights agreements, and communications relating to Sophie Mercer and Brave Little Sophie.
The company acknowledged receipt but offered no substantive response.
An hour later, James's business office confirmed that his name appeared in a set of scanned documents stored in a shared corporate archive.
The signatures were similar.
The dates were plausible.
The approvals were not.
He had authorized general foundation donations, but he had never granted a third party commercial rights over his daughter.
His assistant, Helen Ward, arrived at the office carrying two folders and a laptop.
“I checked the approvals from the relevant period,” she said.
“You signed off on a donation agreement and a sponsorship budget. Neither document mentions image rights.””
“Could someone have added a page later?””
“It's possible, but I can't establish that from the copies I have. The original files are archived with the legal department.””
Margaret looked up.
“Can we obtain the original metadata and the signed copies?””
Helen nodded.
“I've already requested them.””
James pointed to the document bearing his signature.
“What about this notary?””
Helen examined the stamp.
“The name is Martin Hales. I don't recognize him.””
Margaret wrote it down.
“We'll verify his registration and whether he recorded this transaction.””
Helen hesitated.
“There is something else. The foundation's finance reports show that Northstar Creative billed for content production, licensing, and campaign management. The amounts increased substantially after Sophie appeared in the first major fundraising video.””
“How much?”” James asked.
“I don't want to give you an unverified total. The finance department is reconciling the invoices against the payments.””
“Do we know who approved them?””
“Some were approved by Victoria. Others were approved through an account assigned to the foundation's operations manager.””
“Who is that?””
“Daniel Frost.””
James frowned.
“Who is Daniel Frost?””
“He oversees the foundation's administration. He's been with Victoria since the charity was established.””
Margaret closed one folder.
“We'll need to speak with him, but not before reviewing the records.””
James looked at the clock.
He wanted to move faster.
Every new discovery made him feel as though he were standing at the bottom of a staircase, seeing another door open above him without knowing how many floors remained.
Yet each step had to be taken carefully.
Sophie was not a financial report. She was not a legal dispute. She was a little girl who needed her father to be steady when everything around her felt uncertain.
At three that afternoon, James returned to the hospital.
Sophie was sitting upright in bed, arranging colored pencils into neat rows. A nurse had brought her a small stuffed dog, which she had named Captain.
“Daddy!””
Her face brightened when he entered.
James smiled and sat beside her.
“Hello, sweetheart. How are you feeling?””
“Better.””
“Did you eat lunch?””
“Most of it.””
“Most?””
She pointed toward a tray.
“The carrots were too soft.””
He laughed.
It was the first real laugh he had managed in days.
“That's a fair complaint.””
Sophie picked up a pencil.
“Are you going to work?””
“Not today.””
“Tomorrow?””
“I'm not planning to.””
She studied him.
“Because of me?””
James set the stuffed dog on the bed.
“Because I have things to take care of, and being here with you is one of them.””
Sophie seemed to consider this.
“Do you have to fix everything?””
“No.””
“Then what do you have to fix?””
He looked at the picture she was drawing.
“A few things that should never have happened.””
She colored a small window blue.
“Can I tell you something?””
“Anything.””
Sophie glanced toward the door.
“Sometimes Mummy says that if I don't do the videos, the children won't get their medicine.””
James kept his expression calm.
“What children?””
“The sick children in the pictures on her computer.””
He waited.
“She says people give money because they want to see me being brave. If I don't make the videos, they won't give money. Then the children won't get help.””
James felt anger rise, but he kept his voice gentle.
“Did you ever see money being taken away because you didn't want to make a video?””
Sophie shook her head.
“No. But Mummy says it's my job to help them.””
“You're a child, Sophie. Helping other children is a kind thing to do, but you are not responsible for the foundation's money.””
“Even if they need it?””
“Even then.””
She looked down at the drawing.
“I thought I was being selfish.””
James reached for her hand.
“You are allowed to be tired. You are allowed to say no. And you are allowed to have a birthday without anyone filming you.””
Sophie leaned against him.
“Can we have another birthday?””
He smiled sadly.
“If you want one.””
“Just us?””
“Just us.””
“And no cameras?””
“No cameras.””
She considered this, then nodded.
“Can Captain come?””
“Captain is already invited.””
For a little while, the room felt almost ordinary.
Then James's phone rang.
Helen.
He answered in the corridor.
“We've found something,” she said.
“The finance team located a series of payments to Northstar Creative that were authorized through the foundation's operations account. Some supporting invoices appear to reference production services that may not have been delivered.””
“May not have been?””
“The descriptions don't match the materials we can locate. We need the underlying contracts and the company's records before we draw conclusions.””
“Who authorized the payments?””
“Daniel Frost approved several of them. Victoria approved others.””
James looked through the glass at Sophie, who was making Captain the dog sit beside her drawing.
“Does this prove the company did something wrong?””
“No. It gives us questions that need answers.””
“Keep digging. But make sure everything is preserved properly.””
Helen paused.
“There's another issue. The foundation's records indicate that a portion of the campaign revenue was transferred to an account associated with a company registered overseas.””
James straightened.
“Which company?””
“We're tracing the ownership. The name doesn't appear on the ordinary vendor list.””
He thanked her and ended the call.
Before he could return to Sophie, Margaret sent him a message.
Northstar has responded to our notice. They claim all image rights were obtained with parental consent. They have supplied a copy of the agreement.
A second message followed.
The signature page is different from the version Nadia brought us.
James stared at the screen.
Different how?
He called Margaret.
“The signature page has been replaced,” she explained.
“The version Northstar supplied identifies a different witness. It still bears your name, but the notary information is not the same.””
“Does that prove the document was altered?””
“Not yet. There could be separate versions or an administrative error. We're requesting the underlying records and asking the notary to verify the transaction.””
James felt the familiar pressure behind his eyes.
“Someone is claiming I signed away my daughter's image rights, and there are two different versions of the paperwork.””
“Yes.””
“And both versions are being used to justify commercial activity involving my daughter.””
“That appears to be the position Northstar is taking.””
He looked at the hospital door.
“I want every copy of every agreement preserved.””
“We're already arranging that.””
The call ended.
James returned to Sophie's room and sat beside her.
She was nearly finished with her drawing.
The little house had a blue roof, three windows, a tree, and a girl standing on the path. This time, she had drawn a man at the front door with his arms open.
Beside the house, she had added a small sign.
James leaned closer.
“What does it say?””
Sophie read the words aloud.
“Everyone gets to come inside.””
He felt his eyes sting.
“That's a good rule.””
She handed him the picture.
“You can keep it.””
James folded his fingers carefully around the paper.
“I'll treasure it.””
That evening, Margaret called again.
“We've verified one detail,” she said.
“The notary named on the first version of the agreement confirms that he never witnessed you sign it.””
James went completely still.
“What did he say?””
“He doesn't recognize the document and has no record of the transaction. He is willing to provide a formal statement.””
James gripped the phone.
“So someone used my name without my permission.””
“That is a reasonable concern, and the discrepancy needs to be investigated. We should avoid making a definitive accusation until the original records are examined.””
He looked toward the hospital bed.
Sophie had fallen asleep with Captain tucked beneath her arm. Her drawing lay on the bedside table, protected beneath a clear plastic folder.
“Margaret,” he said, “what happens if the company has been using that document to sell her image?””
“Then we'll take appropriate steps to challenge their claimed rights and protect her interests.””
“And if someone deliberately created a false agreement?””
“Then the evidence will determine what happens next.””
James ended the call and stood beside his daughter's bed.
He had spent years believing money could solve most problems if he applied enough of it in the right place.
But no amount of money could return the months Sophie had spent believing her tears were a failure.
No contract could explain why she had learned to ask permission to cry.
And no apology could erase the fact that she had been left alone with people who knew exactly how to make her obey.
His phone vibrated once more.
An email from an unfamiliar address appeared.
There was no greeting.
No explanation.
Only a photograph.
It showed Sophie sitting at a small table in the blue room, her face turned toward the camera. Beside her stood Richard Vale.
The date stamp placed the image eleven months earlier.
On the table between them lay a document.
Richard's hand rested over the top corner, concealing most of the page.
But one line remained visible.
*BENEFICIAL GUARDIANSHIP ARRANGEMENT.*
James enlarged the photograph.
Then he noticed the handwriting beneath the title.
It wasn't Victoria's.
May you like
It wasn't his.
It belonged to someone he had trusted with his daughter's care.
