Chapter 4
Bennett had papers.
Of course he did.
Men like Bennett did not only lie.
They prepared paperwork to make lies look respectable.
He stood outside the maternity exam room with Margot beside him and a hospital administrator named Paul Graves holding a folder.
Paul looked nervous.
Good.
He should have been.
My uncle took the folder and read silently.
The longer he read, the colder his face became.
“This signature is not hers.”
Bennett’s mouth tightened.
“Tessa signed it at home.”
I stepped forward.
“No, I didn’t.”
Margot rolled her eyes.
“You sign things without reading them all the time.”
I looked at her.
“You know a lot about my marriage for a mistress.”
Her cheeks flushed.
Bennett said, “Careful.”
That one word used to work on me.
It used to pull me back into silence.
This time, my uncle laughed.
Not kindly.
“Did you just threaten her in my hospital?”
Bennett’s eyes narrowed.
“Your hospital?”
“My board. My staff. My cameras. My patient.”
He held up the paper.
“And now, apparently, my evidence.”
Paul Graves tried to speak.
“Dr. Mercer, the document was uploaded through the family portal—”
“By who?”
Paul swallowed.
“It appears Mrs. Halloway’s account.”
I stared at him.
“My account?”
He nodded.
Bennett looked relieved.
Then my uncle asked, “From what IP address?”
Paul went still.
Bennett’s relief vanished.
“I’ll need IT,” Paul said.
“You’ll get federal counsel if you delay.”
Margot stepped back.
Just one step.
I saw it.
So did my uncle.
“What are you afraid of?” I asked her.
She lifted her chin.
“Nothing.”
Bennett put a hand on her lower back.
A claiming gesture.
A comforting gesture.
A foolish gesture in front of cameras.
Clara returned with a tablet.
“Dr. Mercer, IT says the upload came from Halloway Capital’s executive office.”
Bennett’s face went blank.
My uncle turned to him.
“You forged medical control over my pregnant niece from your office?”
Bennett said nothing.
Margot whispered, “Bennett.”
He snapped, “Quiet.”
There it was.
The first crack between them.
I touched my belly and finally understood.
Margot was not the only danger.
She was only the pretty part of a plan.
I looked at Bennett.
May you like
“What were you planning to do when I gave birth?”
His silence answered.
