Chapter 9 - THE PLAN AFTER DELIVERY
Derek’s tears did not move Emma.
Not anymore.
“What was the plan?”
He shook his head.
“Nothing was supposed to happen to you.”
“Then what was supposed to happen?”
William said:
“Do not answer.”
Derek looked at his father.
Then at Brittany.
Then at the baby.
Something collapsed inside him.
“They wanted you declared temporarily unable to manage financial decisions.”
Emma stared.
“After childbirth?”
“Postpartum confusion. Medication effects. Anxiety.”
Her stomach turned.
“You were going to tell people I was mentally incompetent?”
“Temporary.”
“Stop using that word like it makes things harmless.”
Derek covered his face.
“My dad said it would last seventy-two hours.”
“Long enough for what?”
“To activate the asset-management agreement.”
“And the guardianship paper?”
Derek’s voice became quiet.
“So I could authorize the paternity and genetic testing.”
Emma felt physically sick.
Luca stood very still.
That was worse than shouting.
William’s attorney whispered something urgently to him.
William ignored it.
Emma asked:
“Did Dr. Keene agree?”
Derek nodded.
“Money?”
Another nod.
The board chair immediately suspended the meeting.
Corporate counsel contacted law enforcement.
Hospital compliance received the information.
Dr. Keene’s access privileges were frozen.
Emma sat because her legs finally refused to cooperate.
Luca moved a chair closer.
He did not touch her.
“Thank you,” she whispered.
Derek heard.
His face crumpled.
“Emma.”
She looked at him.
“I loved you.”
“I know.”
“No.”
He shook his head.
“You think everything was fake.”
“Wasn’t it?”
“At first, my father pushed me to meet you.”
The room went quiet.
Emma had expected the answer.
It still hurt.
Derek continued:
“He knew where you worked. He knew you were Michael Hayes’s daughter. He told me to introduce myself.”
“When?”
“Three years ago.”
The first coffee shop.
Derek accidentally bumping her table.
Helping clean spilled coffee.
Asking for her number.
Not accidental.
Nothing accidental.
Emma felt tears rise.
“But I fell in love with you,” he said.
“Did you?”
“Yes.”
“Then why Brittany?”
He looked away.
Because loving someone does not always cure selfishness.
“Because I was weak.”
Emma almost smiled sadly.
At least that answer sounded true.
“And why keep helping your father?”
“I thought once the trust was under control, I could fix everything.”
“There is always a man saying that after ruining someone else’s life.”
He cried harder.
Emma did not rescue him from it.
Then police arrived.
Not Luca’s men.
Actual police.
They asked Emma if she wanted to make a formal statement regarding forged documents and attempted unauthorized access to her medical information.
“Yes.”
Her answer came immediately.
William looked at her.
“You’re making a mistake.”
Emma stared.
“No.”
She looked down at her daughter.
“I finally stopped making one.”
As officers escorted William from the boardroom for questioning, Luca’s attorney returned with another discovery.
The message Emma received had come from an internal Moretti number.
“Who sent it?” Luca asked.
The attorney hesitated.
Then looked toward Brittany.
Everyone turned.
Brittany raised her hands.
“Not me.”
The attorney shook his head.
“No.”
“Then who?”
He looked at Emma.
“Someone named Rose Hayes.”
Emma stopped breathing.
May you like
Her mother’s name had been Rose.
Rose Hayes had supposedly died eighteen years earlier.
