Chapter 8 - The Honeymoon Bride Knew the Doctor
Natalie Pierce was not simply a coworker.
She was Dr. Martin Keene’s daughter.
The room seemed to change when our attorney said it aloud.
Sarah closed her eyes.
“Of course.”
I felt sick.
Greg’s new wife.
The doctor who certified Sarah as terminal.
The suspicious insurance increase.
The drained savings.
One family.
Our attorney remained careful.
“This connection is significant, but connection alone does not prove conspiracy.”
She was right.
So we followed documents.
Natalie had worked at Lawson Financial Group for three years.
She specialized in estate planning products.
Life insurance.
Trust structures.
High-net-worth transitions.
She understood beneficiary systems better than Greg did.
Then one email surfaced through litigation discovery.
From Natalie to Greg, six months earlier:
If S moves into comfort care, the remaining administrative issues become much simpler.
S.
Sarah.
Greg replied:
M is handling the medical side.
M.
Martin.
Her father.
My hands shook.
Sarah did not speak for almost a minute.
Then:
“I want to meet her.”
“No,” I said immediately.
Sarah looked at me.
“Mom.”
“She helped him.”
“Maybe.”
“Sarah—”
“I need to hear what she says when she sees me alive.”
That stopped me.
The meeting took place by video with attorneys present.
Natalie appeared from a conference room in Florida.
No beach.
No champagne.
No smile.
The instant Sarah appeared on-screen, Natalie’s face changed.
“You look…”
“Alive?”
Natalie swallowed.
Sarah leaned closer.
“Did you know my diagnosis wasn’t confirmed?”
“I knew what Greg told me.”
“And what did your father tell you?”
Silence.
Sarah waited.
Natalie finally said:
“That your condition was irreversible.”
“Did you ever see records?”
“No.”
“Then why help increase my life insurance?”
Natalie looked at her lawyer.
He whispered something.
She answered:
“Greg said you had agreed.”
“Did you ever speak to me?”
“No.”
Sarah’s voice stayed calm.
“So you helped restructure a half-million-dollar policy on a woman you never spoke to while sleeping with her husband.”
Natalie’s eyes filled.
“Yes.”
No excuse.
Then she said something none of us expected.
“But I didn’t know he was still taking your money after the divorce.”
Greg had lied to Natalie too.
He told her Sarah willingly transferred their marital savings in exchange for him assuming debts.
Natalie believed Sarah received a separate settlement.
She hadn’t.
Then Natalie whispered:
“There’s something Greg doesn’t know.”
Her lawyer stiffened.
She ignored him.
“My father kept copies of everything.”
“What everything?”
“The instructions Greg gave him.”
May you like
Then Natalie looked directly at Sarah.
“And one of those instructions said your mother was never supposed to find you.”
