Chapter 12 - The Woman Doreen Forgot
The investigation into Doreen uncovered someone nobody expected.
Nathan’s older sister.
Rachel.
Nathan had told Leah that Rachel lived in Oregon and wanted nothing to do with the family.
That part was true.
The reason was not.
Rachel arrived at Briar Glen carrying a battered leather folder.
She had not seen Nathan in eleven years.
When he approached her, she stepped backward.
“Don’t.”
Nathan stopped.
Rachel looked at Leah.
“You must be Leah.”
“Yes.”
Rachel’s eyes moved toward Owen.
Then she smiled sadly.
“He looks like Dad.”
Leah invited her to sit.
Rachel opened the folder.
Inside were letters.
Medical records.
Court documents.
And photographs.
“My father wasn’t suicidal.”
Rachel pushed a psychiatric evaluation toward Evelyn.
“He was trying to leave our mother.”
Another document followed.
“He discovered she had been moving money from one of the family companies.”
Leah felt sick.
“She tried to have him declared unstable?”
Rachel nodded.
“Dad fought it.”
“He won.”
“Three weeks later, he died.”
Nathan stared at her.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
Rachel laughed bitterly.
“I did.”
“When?”
“You were thirteen.”
Nathan’s face went blank.
“Mom said you were lying.”
“Exactly.”
Rachel looked toward Leah.
“Doreen doesn’t need everyone to believe her forever.”
“She only needs them to believe her long enough.”
Leah looked down at Owen.
That was exactly what Doreen had attempted with her.
Three days.
Seventy-two hours.
Long enough to establish a narrative.
Long enough to separate mother and child.
Long enough to put paperwork in front of the right judge.
Rachel removed one final document.
“This is why she needs Owen.”
It was a copy of their grandfather’s original trust.
There was a clause Simone’s investigator had missed.
If a guardian were found to have obtained custody through fraud, coercion, or intentional misrepresentation, that guardian permanently forfeited any authority over the trust.
Leah stared at Evelyn.
May you like
Evelyn smiled for the first time.
“Doreen just destroyed the very thing she was trying to steal.”
