Chapter 10: What Happened on Emily's Last Night
I didn't go home after Daniel hung up.
I sat in Robert's office, staring at the photograph of Emily, Vanessa, and my brother.
"Ask your wife what happened the night Emily went to the hospital for the last time.""
Those words kept repeating in my head.
Robert placed a glass of water in front of me.
"Michael, I need you to tell me something. Was Vanessa anywhere near Emily during her final illness?""
I rubbed my forehead.
"I don't think so.""
"Think carefully.""
I closed my eyes.
Five years earlier, Emily had been admitted to the hospital after developing complications from her treatment. I'd spent almost every night beside her bed.
Daniel had visited occasionally.
He'd brought coffee, sandwiches, and updates from work.
I remembered one particular evening.
I'd been exhausted. Emily had barely slept, and the doctors were discussing another procedure.
Daniel had offered to stay while I went home to shower.
I'd refused initially.
But Emily had insisted.
"Go home, Michael," she'd whispered.
"You look worse than I do.""
I'd kissed her forehead.
Daniel had promised to call if anything changed.
When I returned, Emily was asleep.
Daniel was gone.
I'd never questioned it.
Now, five years later, that memory felt like a stone lodged in my chest.
"Robert, Daniel stayed with her one evening when I went home.""
Robert stopped writing.
"Do you remember the date?""
I checked the old hospital records I'd saved in a folder.
The date was five days before Emily died.
Robert examined the page.
"That's interesting.""
"Why?""
He opened the supplementary trust documents.
"Emily contacted me the following morning. She asked me to arrange an emergency change to the trust restrictions.""
I stared at him.
"Did she say why?""
"She said someone had attempted to obtain her authorization while she was heavily medicated.""
I felt sick.
"Who?""
"She didn't identify the person over the phone. She wanted to speak privately.""
"Did she?""
Robert looked down.
"Yes. Two days later.""
He removed another document from the folder.
It was a handwritten statement.
Emily's signature appeared at the bottom.
I began reading.
On the evening of October 14, Daniel visited me while Michael was away. He brought documents relating to Noah's education trust and asked me to sign them.
My fingers went numb.
I refused. Daniel became angry and told me I was making things unnecessarily difficult.
I swallowed.
The next paragraph was worse.
He said Vanessa had already invested considerable time and money into helping our family. He claimed Michael would eventually understand that the arrangement was necessary.
I looked up.
"Vanessa was involved even then?""
Robert nodded.
I continued reading.
I asked Daniel why Vanessa was interested in my son's inheritance. He told me to stop asking questions.
The final lines were handwritten separately.
If anything happens to me, Michael must know that Daniel and Vanessa are working together. Please protect Noah.
I lowered the paper.
For several seconds, neither of us spoke.
Then Robert said, "There is something else.""
He opened an email printed from Emily's account.
It had been sent to a private investigator three weeks before her death.
The subject line read:
*ELAINE CARTER — PLEASE VERIFY HER IDENTITY.*
I frowned.
"Who is Elaine Carter?""
"Vanessa's mother.""
"Why was Emily investigating her?""
Robert turned the page.
The report included an old photograph of Elaine standing outside a hospital.
Beneath it was a name.
Elaine Bennett.
I stared.
"She used a different surname?""
"Apparently. She was previously married and changed her name after a second marriage.""
I read further.
The investigator had discovered that Elaine had worked at the same hospital where Emily received treatment.
Not as a nurse.
As a financial administrator.
My mouth went dry.
"Was she involved in Emily's care?""
"Not medically. But she had access to certain billing and patient-administration records.""
I remembered Vanessa mentioning that her mother knew people in healthcare.
I'd thought nothing of it.
Then Robert showed me the last page.
It contained a handwritten note from Emily.
Elaine knows what happened to the money from the original insurance settlement. Daniel says it was lost. I don't believe him.
I looked at Robert.
"What insurance settlement?""
He opened another folder.
Emily had purchased a life insurance policy years before her diagnosis.
The beneficiary was Noah.
The payout had been $250,000.
I had believed that money went toward medical bills, household expenses, and the establishment of Noah's trust.
But the records showed only $90,000 had initially been transferred into the education account.
The remaining amount had been deposited into a separate estate account.
I stared at the balance history.
A series of withdrawals had occurred before Emily died.
The total?
$160,000.
"Where did it go?"" I asked.
Robert shook his head.
"We're tracing it.""
My phone vibrated.
A message from an unknown number.
Stop asking questions about Emily. You have no idea what she was involved in.
I showed Robert.
He immediately photographed the screen.
"Don't respond.""
Then another message arrived.
This time, it included an old photograph.
Emily lying in her hospital bed.
Daniel standing beside her.
And Vanessa sitting in the chair near the window.
The timestamp showed the evening I'd gone home to shower.
My chest tightened.
I enlarged the photograph.
Vanessa was holding a document.
Emily's eyes were open.
She appeared to be looking directly at her.
On the back of the photograph, someone had written:
*SHE NEVER SIGNED IT.*
I looked at Robert.
"Who sent this?""
He shook his head.
Then he pointed to a detail in the corner of the photograph.
A hospital visitor badge.
The name printed on it was not Vanessa Carter.
It was *Vanessa Bennett*.
Robert looked at me.
May you like
"Michael, I think we finally know why Emily was investigating her.""
And then he made a call that would uncover something neither of us expected.
