Chapter 8 - The Signature They Needed
David took the phone immediately.
“Do not delete anything.”
Patricia stared at Daniel.
“What was this supposed to be?”
Daniel looked exhausted now.
Not ashamed.
Cornered.
“There was a contingency plan.”
I repeated the phrase.
“Contingency plan.”
He nodded.
“If Jennifer had a breakdown.”
“I didn’t.”
“But you could have.”
Chloe whispered, “Daniel.”
He ignored her.
He was talking faster now.
As if enough words could turn planning into concern.
“Postpartum depression happens.”
David interrupted.
“Do not diagnose my client.”
“I’m not diagnosing anyone.”
“You prepared documents based on symptoms she did not have.”
“I prepared options.”
Robert looked at the financial power of attorney.
“What would this have allowed you to do?”
David answered.
“If properly executed, potentially control accounts and make certain financial decisions on Jennifer’s behalf.”
My stomach tightened.
“Why would I sign it?”
Daniel did not answer.
Patricia did.
“You wouldn’t.”
She stared at her son.
“That’s why you needed her to look incompetent.”
Daniel’s face hardened.
“That is not what happened.”
David continued reading.
Then he stopped.
“This form includes a witness section.”
“So?” Daniel said.
“The witness name is already entered.”
I looked.
Patricia Carter.
His mother stepped backward.
“No.”
Daniel sighed.
“Mom.”
“No.”
Her voice shook.
“You were going to put my name on that?”
“I assumed you would support me.”
“You assumed I would lie?”
“It would have been for Lily.”
Patricia slapped the table.
“Stop using that baby as an excuse.”
Lily stirred in my mother’s arms.
Patricia lowered her voice immediately.
Then she began crying.
Not loudly.
Not theatrically.
She looked like a woman watching the son she thought she had raised disappear in front of her.
My anger toward her did not vanish.
Patricia had spent years excusing Daniel’s selfishness.
But she had not known this.
I could see that now.
David leaned toward me.
“We need to leave.”
I nodded.
Then Chloe spoke.
“Jennifer, there’s something you need to know before you go.”
Daniel turned.
“No.”
Chloe’s eyes filled with tears.
“I’m done protecting you.”
She looked at me.
“He kept asking me questions about your medications after you delivered.”
I frowned.
“What medications?”
“Anything your doctor prescribed.”
I looked at Daniel.
He looked away.
Chloe continued.
“He wanted to know whether you were taking pain medicine.”
David’s posture changed instantly.
“Why?”
“I asked him the same thing.”
Chloe unlocked her phone.
“He said he needed to know what could make you drowsy.”
The cold returned to my body.
I remembered one night when Daniel brought me tea.
Another when he insisted I rest while he handled Lily’s bottle.
Another when I woke on the couch three hours later with no memory of falling asleep.
I stared at him.
“Daniel.”
He shook his head.
“No.”
My voice was barely audible.
May you like
“What did you put in my tea?”
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