Chapter 11 - The Widow Scenario
For several seconds, I heard nothing.
Not the guests.
Not Lily.
Not the officers.
Nothing.
Then David spoke.
“Chloe, do not describe anything else from that drive in public.”
Daniel laughed nervously.
“Finally.”
David turned toward him.
“That was not for your benefit.”
The officers escorted Chloe toward a quieter hallway.
One remained with Daniel.
I looked at David.
“What does widow scenario mean?”
“We do not know yet.”
“We know what the words mean.”
“We do not know what the document means legally.”
I wanted to scream.
Instead, I looked at Daniel.
He stared back.
“Jennifer, don’t do this.”
I almost admired the absurdity.
“Don’t do what?”
“Let them turn some financial planning file into something insane.”
“You created a financial plan for my death?”
“No.”
“What was it?”
“Estate planning.”
Robert said, “You don’t handle estate planning.”
Daniel ignored him.
The remaining guests had begun leaving.
Some avoided looking at us.
Others stared openly.
The photographer had stopped taking pictures.
The baptism cake remained untouched.
White icing.
Gold cross.
God Bless Lily.
I looked at it and suddenly hated everything about the room.
I wanted my daughter away from it.
David seemed to read my mind.
“Go with your mother.”
I nodded.
Daniel immediately stepped forward.
“I’m coming.”
“No,” I said.
“I am her father.”
“You can speak to my attorney.”
His face twisted.
“This is kidnapping.”
David replied calmly.
“No, it isn’t.”
The officer asked Daniel to remain where he was.
I turned away.
Then Patricia called my name.
“Jennifer.”
I looked back.
She was holding something.
A small envelope.
“I need to give you this.”
Daniel saw it.
“Mom, no.”
Patricia stared at him.
“What is it?” I asked.
She walked toward me.
“Two weeks ago, Daniel asked me to keep this in my safe.”
Daniel’s voice became desperate.
“Mom.”
“He told me it contained copies of Lily’s baptism certificate and insurance paperwork.”
She handed me the envelope.
“It doesn’t.”
I opened it.
Inside were photocopies of my passport.
My driver’s license.
My Social Security card.
Lily’s birth certificate.
And a document I had never seen.
A life insurance policy.
My name was at the top.
Coverage amount:
$1,000,000.
Beneficiary:
Daniel Carter.
Policy issue date:
Six weeks earlier.
I stared at the page.
“I never applied for this.”
David took it.
His expression changed immediately.
“Jennifer, is this your signature?”
I looked at the bottom.
It resembled mine.
But it was not mine.
“No.”
Daniel shouted from across the room.
“It was routine family planning!”
David slowly looked at him.
“You forged her signature on a million-dollar life insurance application?”
Daniel stopped talking.
May you like
And that was the first time I became truly afraid.
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