Chapter 10 - THE POLICY I NEVER KNEW EXISTED
The room went silent.
I stared at the life insurance policy.
Two million dollars.
Garrick’s face turned pale.
“I didn’t do that.”
I looked at him.
“You’ve said that before.”
“I’m serious.”
Abigail pointed at the application.
“Your email address is listed.”
“I never saw it.”
“The premium came from Caspian Automotive.”
“I didn’t authorize it.”
Marcus had already checked.
The policy had been opened fourteen months earlier.
At first, I felt frightened.
Then furious.
“What exactly were you expecting to happen to me?”
“Nothing!”
Garrick pushed back from the table.
“I swear to you, Clara, I didn’t know about this.”
Abigail studied him.
“For once, that may be true.”
She placed another sheet beside it.
The application had been submitted from Eleanor’s home computer.
The contact number belonged to her.
And the witness signature belonged to one of her longtime friends.
Garrick stared at the page as though his mother had become a stranger.
“She insured Clara?”
“Yes,” Abigail said.
“And listed you as beneficiary.”
He stood.
“I need to talk to her.”
“No,” Abigail replied sharply. “You need to listen to your attorney.”
He ignored her.
I watched him pace toward the window.
Then he turned toward me.
“There’s something I haven’t told you.”
My stomach tightened.
“What now?”
“When Dad died, Mom had debts.”
Eleanor’s husband had died twelve years earlier.
I had been told he left her comfortable.
“How much?”
“I never knew exactly.”
“You knew enough.”
Garrick nodded slowly.
“She started using my accounts. I let her. Then she started handling business paperwork.”
“And you gave her access to my information.”
“Yes.”
That one word ended any remaining excuse.
He sat down again.
“I’m going to give you everything.”
“Why?”
“Because I finally understand she’ll destroy me too.”
That afternoon, Garrick handed over passwords, ledgers, emails, and access to a private digital archive Eleanor believed only she controlled.
Inside was a folder labeled FAMILY SECURITY.
Abigail opened it.
There were copies of my driver’s license.
My Social Security information.
My trust statements.
My medical records.
And one scanned document that made my hands turn cold.
It was a draft divorce agreement.
Dated seven months before my pregnancy.
May you like
Eleanor had already planned to remove me from the family.
She had simply been waiting for the right moment.
