Title: The Certificate prompted by Michael Poole
Genre: Legal Thriller / Psychological Suspense
Setting: Jersey, Channel Islands
Plot Summary:

Evan Marlowe, a low-profile adjudicator with a checkered past, inherits a company that owns his home — a quiet apartment-office overlooking St. Helier’s harbor. But the inheritance comes with a snare: the share certificate proving his ownership is being held by Viberts & Co., a powerful law firm with a long history of manipulating clients behind closed doors.

For thirty years, Viberts has quietly shaped Evan’s life — gaslighting him through legal “errors,” delays, and forced signings that cost him family, friends, and mental peace. Each encounter left him more wary, more paranoid, more certain that something darker was at play.

When his sister unknowingly hires the same firm to transfer ownership of their late mother’s estate, Evan refuses to step foot inside the Viberts offices again. He knows the firm too well; the polished brass plaque on their building hides rot.

Desperate, Evan looks for a way around them. He considers hiring a conveyancer, a courier, even a security firm — anyone who can retrieve the certificate without his physical presence. But every route circles back to the same gatekeepers at Viberts.

Then Evan discovers a quiet, overlooked clause in the company bylaws: the company secretary has the power to issue a replacement share certificate if the original is lost or withheld. It’s a legal loophole — and a possible escape.

But as Evan begins the process, the intimidation starts again:

Anonymous emails warning him not to proceed.

Letters “lost” in transit.

A break-in at his apartment where nothing is stolen except a folder marked Mum’s Will.

He realizes Viberts isn’t just protecting a document — they’re protecting something inside the company itself. The shares he inherited aren’t just for a building; they’re a key to a shell network of offshore holdings that could expose decades of legal misconduct.

With only a few allies — a disillusioned paralegal from Viberts, and a weary company secretary whose conscience won’t stay quiet — Evan races to reclaim what’s his and uncover what’s been buried.

As the legal threats escalate into violence, Evan must decide: Will he take the fight to court, or will he expose Viberts in the court of public opinion — risking everything, including his sanity, for the truth?

Themes:

The abuse of legal power

Mental health and institutional gaslighting

The fragility of trust in systems meant to protect

The line between justice and vengeance