Chapter 15 - The Forged Guardian
Clara sat across from Lena under fluorescent lights and gave handwriting samples until her fingers cramped.
The signature on the guardianship petition was a forgery.
So were two medical declarations claiming I suffered recurring memory loss and violent episodes.
The plan was clear.
If I kept digging, Harold would declare me unstable the same way he had Lily, then remove Eva "for her safety" using Clara's forged approval.
"He was going to do it again," Lily whispered.
I looked at her.
"Not this time."
The storage unit Owen identified contained the second ledger, original medical forms, and boxes of correspondence spanning twenty-five years.
One letter was from Dr. Mercer to Harold.
Subject W.C. remains suggestible when family consensus supports the preferred memory.
I read that sentence three times.
My whole adulthood suddenly felt contaminated.
Clara touched my hand. I pulled away.
"You don't owe me comfort," she said.
Lily's file was worse.
Annual reports called her delusional whenever she mentioned her real family.
Staff were instructed not to use the name Carter.
She had written me fifty-seven letters.
None had been mailed.
I sat on the evidence-room floor and read the first one.
Will, I don't know if you think I left. I didn't. Please keep looking.
The last one had been written four months ago.
If I get out, I am coming home even if you hate me for surviving.
I covered my face.
Lily sat beside me.
"I never hated you."
"I stopped looking."
"You were taught to stop."
Across the room, Lena opened another box.
"William, you need to see this."
Inside was a notarized document transferring Lily's thirty-percent ownership stake.
The signature was hers.
Lily stared at it.
"I never signed that."
May you like
The witness line carried a name we had not expected.
Clara Bennett.
