Chapter 6 - Everyone Had SecretsCharles demanded a forensic audit before we even returned to my room.
By then I had been moved to a private postpartum room overlooking the hospital courtyard.
Noah remained in the NICU.
I wanted to be beside him every second, but I could barely stand without help.
My incision burned.
My body felt hollow.
My mind refused to slow down.
I handed Detective Brooks my phone.
She read Rachel’s messages twice.
“You didn’t ask her to send this?”
“No.”
“Did you know about any life insurance policy?”
“I knew Daniel and I had basic policies.”
“How much?”
“Five hundred thousand dollars each.”
Charles stood near the window.
I looked at him.
“Could he increase mine without telling me?”
The detective answered.
“Usually not without some participation, depending on the type of coverage and paperwork.”
I remembered the medical examination four months earlier.
A nurse had come to the house.
Blood draw.
Blood pressure.
Questions.
Daniel told me it was for updated family financial planning because of the baby.
My stomach twisted.
“I did an insurance exam.”
“When?”
“April.”
“And you signed forms?”
“Yes.”
“Did you read them?”
I felt stupid before answering.
“No.”
Detective Brooks didn’t judge me.
“Most people trust their spouses.”
That almost broke me.
“How much is the policy?”
“We don’t know yet.”
Charles said, “I can have our attorney contact her estate counsel.”
“No.”
Both of them looked at me.
“I want my own attorney.”
Charles nodded immediately.
“Good.”
It was the first decision he didn’t try to influence.
By morning, I had retained Miriam Cole, a fifty-six-year-old attorney recommended by a hospital board member but with no ties to my father.
Miriam arrived carrying a black leather folder and the expression of a woman who had spent decades watching families discover what money could turn people into.
She listened without interrupting.
Then she asked one question.
“Do you trust your husband?”
“No.”
“Good. That makes my job easier.”
She requested copies of insurance documents, estate planning records, bank statements, corporate filings, and Daniel’s communications regarding my trust.
By lunchtime, we had our first answer.
The life insurance policy wasn’t five hundred thousand.
It was eight million dollars.
My husband was the primary beneficiary.
I stared at Miriam.
“Eight million?”
She nodded.
“The policy was approved three months ago.”
“Why would anyone insure me for that amount?”
“Because Daniel listed you as a future beneficiary of substantial family assets.”
Charles swore quietly.
I had never heard my father swear before.
Miriam continued.
“There’s more.”
Of course there was.
“There is a draft marital asset agreement prepared last year.”
“I never signed one.”
“No. But it contains proposed language that would convert certain future inherited assets into jointly managed marital property.”
I laughed bitterly.
“He tried.”
“He appears to have tried repeatedly.”
“Could he forge my signature?”
“Anything is possible. But fraud creates problems for the person committing it.”
A knock interrupted us.
Maria entered.
“Emily?”
Something in her smile made my chest tighten.
“Noah is off respiratory support.”
I started crying.
“Really?”
“He’s breathing entirely on his own.”
For the first time since the hallway, something good happened.
Maria brought a wheelchair.
My father pushed me to the NICU.
Noah looked impossibly small beneath the clear plastic walls of his incubator.
A feeding tube ran beneath his nose.
Wires crossed his tiny chest.
I reached through the opening and touched his hand.
His fingers closed around mine.
Everything else disappeared.
Daniel.
Rachel.
Money.
Police.
Trusts.
All of it.
“Hi, baby,” I whispered. “I’m Mommy.”
His hand tightened.
My father stood behind me.
“He has your mother’s fingers.”
I glanced back.
“You remember?”
“Everything about her.”
Something in his voice made me believe him.
We stayed nearly an hour.
On our way back to my room, we found Daniel waiting outside.
Two security officers stood nearby.
My entire body tensed.
“How did you get up here?”
“I’m still the baby’s father.”
“That doesn’t answer my question.”
“I asked to see my son.”
“You don’t get to call him that like nothing happened.”
Pain flashed across Daniel’s face.
For half a second, I saw the man I had loved.
Then he destroyed it.
“Emily, Rachel lied.”
“About what?”
“Everything.”
“Were you sleeping with her?”
He looked away.
“So not everything.”
“She’s trying to protect herself.”
“From the assault charge?”
“From me.”
That caught my attention.
“Why would she need protection from you?”
“She found out I planned to end things.”
“You planned to end your affair?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“Last week.”
“Why?”
He looked toward my father.
“Because I realized what mattered.”
I almost smiled.
“Was it me or forty-eight million dollars?”
His face changed.
So slightly most people wouldn’t notice.
I did.
“You told him,” Daniel said to Charles.
My father remained silent.
Daniel laughed once.
“Of course.”
“You knew about the trust.”
Daniel stepped closer.
“I knew your mother came from money.”
“You knew the amount.”
“Not exactly.”
“Then why did you increase my insurance?”
“For Noah.”
“To eight million dollars?”
“Because you were about to inherit significant assets.”
“How convenient.”
His eyes filled with frustration.
“Emily, think logically. If I wanted your money, why would I have an affair?”
“Arrogance?”
He shook his head.
“You think I wanted you dead?”
“I don’t know what to think.”
“You know me.”
“I knew the version you sold me.”
His expression hardened.
Then he said something unexpected.
“Check Rachel’s accounts.”
“What?”
“Check where her money comes from.”
Miriam, standing beside my door, looked interested.
Daniel continued.
“She has been receiving payments for months.”
“From you?”
“No.”
“From whom?”
He stared directly at Charles.
“Bennett Medical Holdings.”
My father went still.
I turned.
“Dad?”
“That’s impossible.”
Daniel laughed.
“Is it?”
He pulled out his phone.
Security stepped toward him.
“I’m showing her evidence.”
He opened a screenshot and held it toward me.
There were bank transfers.
$25,000.
$40,000.
$30,000.
Each associated with a consulting company called BMH Strategic Partners.
Miriam took the phone.
Charles stared at the screen.
“I’ve never seen this.”
Daniel’s voice became quiet.
“Then somebody inside your company has.”
I looked at my father.
May you like
The man who had suddenly reentered my life as my protector.
And for the first time since the hospital director walked into that hallway, I wondered whether he was hiding something too.
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