Chapter 3 - THE CHILD THEY WERE BUYING WITH MY MONEY
Paige had undergone two rounds of fertility treatment using money labeled for Gwen’s medical care.
The first attempt failed.
The second appeared successful.
According to clinic billing records, Paige was twelve weeks pregnant.
No one had told me.
The father listed on several documents was Bradley Knox, a married real estate agent who had arranged the purchase of the house.
The connection explained the inflated property price and unusual closing costs.
Bradley had received a forty-five-thousand-dollar “consulting fee.”
My money had funded his affair with my sister.
It had also purchased the house through a company he secretly controlled.
The deed Margaret proudly displayed was not as secure as she believed.
A hidden loan remained against the property.
If Bradley’s shell company demanded repayment, the house could be seized.
Marcus found additional transfers.
My mother had sent money to Bradley every month.
Some payments were labeled maintenance.
Others were labeled security.
The largest was fifty thousand dollars.
“What was it for?” I asked.
“We don’t know yet,” Marcus said.
“But it was sent two days after Gwen’s biopsy.”
That timing made my skin crawl.
The next morning, I asked Paige about Bradley casually.
She nearly dropped her coffee.
“He helped with the house.”
“Is he still involved?”
“Why?”
“The compensation examiner may contact the agent.”
Margaret answered quickly.
“Bradley moved overseas.”
A lie.
He lived twelve miles away with his wife and two children.
I pretended to accept the answer.
Then I told them the company required an inventory of all household assets.
Paige became excited.
She spent hours displaying jewelry, electronics, and furniture.
I photographed every item.
Some still carried Gwen’s initials.
Her wedding necklace.
Her grandmother’s silver bracelet.
A small gold ring I bought after our first anniversary.
Margaret had taken them from the room and redistributed them.
When Gwen asked for the necklace months earlier, my mother claimed it had been sold to pay utility bills.
That evening, I hid a small recorder in my shirt pocket before joining them for dinner.
The fake compensation meeting was two days away.
They had become careless.
Paige complained that Gwen’s treatment might interfere with the payment.
“She looks sick,” she said.
“The examiner might ask questions.”
Margaret cut her meat calmly.
“We’ll say she refuses doctors.”
“That makes Gavin look irresponsible,” Paige replied.
“Then we say she hid the illness.”
I kept my voice neutral.
“What illness?”
Both women froze.
Margaret recovered first.
“Whatever she claims to have.”
“You know Gwen.”
“She invents problems.”
I looked toward Gwen.
She sat at the far end of the table with a bowl of thin soup.
My mother had served the rest of us roast beef.
“Give her some meat,” I said.
Margaret frowned.
“It upsets her stomach.”
Gwen whispered.
“She hasn’t allowed me to eat meat for months.”
Margaret’s fork stopped.
Paige glared at her.
I waited.
My mother laughed.
“She is confused.”
Then Gwen spoke more clearly.
“She weighed my food.”
“She said if I became weak enough, Gavin would stop wanting me.”
The room went silent.
Paige stood.
“That’s insane.”
But Margaret’s face did not show surprise.
It showed anger that Gwen had spoken.
My recorder captured everything.
After dinner, I sent the file to Rebecca.
Then Gwen remembered something.
Three months earlier, Margaret gave her daily capsules she claimed were vitamins.
After each dose, Gwen became nauseated and dizzy.
She stopped taking them secretly.
The capsules were still hidden in an old sewing box.
I delivered them to Dr. Foster the next morning.
Laboratory testing found a medication that suppresses appetite and can interfere with certain cancer treatments.
It had been prescribed to Paige under another doctor’s name.
My mother had been giving it to Gwen.
She was not merely starving my wife.
She was drugging her.
Before we could confront anyone, Marcus called.
The fifty-thousand-dollar payment to Bradley had finally been identified.
It purchased a life insurance policy.
May you like
The insured person was Gwen.
The beneficiary was Margaret.
