Chapter 3 - THE WOMAN WHO WASN'T SUPPOSED TO EXIST
“Why is my housekeeper's name on a guardianship form?”
Dominic looked from the paper to Vanessa.
Nobody answered.
I stared at my own name.
I had never been inside Briarwood House.
I had never discussed adopting anyone.
And I certainly had never agreed to become Oliver Romano's guardian.
“Sir, I don't understand,” I whispered.
Vanessa recovered first.
“It's a preliminary assessment. Hannah spends a great deal of time with Oliver. The social worker probably included her name as a familiar caregiver.”
Dominic held up the page.
“Then why was your name crossed out?”
“I don't know.”
“Who crossed it out?”
Vanessa looked toward Oliver.
“Perhaps someone made a clerical correction.”
Oliver shook his head.
“The lady with the purple glasses did it.”
Dominic turned to his son.
“What lady?”
“She had a blue pen. Vanessa said I should call her Miss Elaine.”
Marco immediately wrote down the name.
Then Dominic looked at me.
“Hannah, have you ever spoken with anyone about Oliver's custody?”
“No, sir.”
“Not even informally?”
“Never.”
He studied my face.
For a moment, I was afraid he wouldn't believe me.
Then he folded the paper.
“I believe you.”
Those three words nearly broke me.
Not because they were extraordinary.
Because I had spent eleven months being treated as though my honesty depended on the price of my uniform.
Vanessa crossed her arms.
“Dominic, you're making a ridiculous spectacle of this.”
“You brought medical transport workers into my home during our engagement party.”
“I was following professional advice.”
“Then we'll speak to the professionals.”
He instructed Marco to keep the visitors in the reception room while his attorney contacted the issuing court.
The men complied.
One looked distinctly uncomfortable.
Vanessa followed them, but Dominic stopped her.
“Leave your phone on my desk.”
She stared.
“You can't seriously mean that.”
“I do.”
After a long moment, she set it down.
Then she left.
Margaret exhaled shakily.
“Dominic, there's something I should have told you.”
He knelt beside her wheelchair.
“Then tell me now.”
She touched the old silver watch.
“Your father was declared incompetent six months before he died.”
Dominic frowned.
“No. He had a stroke.”
“He did. But the declaration came before the stroke.”
I watched his expression change.
Margaret continued.
“Anthony discovered irregular withdrawals from the Romano family trust. He challenged the accountant who managed the accounts.”
“Arthur Caldwell,” Dominic said.
Vanessa's father.
Margaret nodded.
“Arthur claimed your father was becoming confused. He arranged assessments, restricted Anthony's access to records, and convinced the family that his judgment was failing.”
Dominic shook his head.
“Dad trusted Arthur.”
“That was the problem.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
Margaret looked toward Oliver.
“Because I couldn't prove it. And because your father made me promise not to put you in the middle of another family war.”
Dominic stared at the watch.
For the first time, the feared man everyone in Chicago avoided looked like a little boy hearing that his father had been hurt.
“What happened to the missing money?”
“I don't know.”
“Did Arthur take it?”
“I know he moved it. I never learned where.”
Dominic opened the watch again.
This time, he examined the photograph.
Underneath was a handwritten number.
A bank archive reference.
Marco photographed it.
“I'll check it,” he said.
But Margaret wasn't finished.
“Vanessa came to see me six weeks ago. She asked me to sign paperwork giving her authority over my medical care.”
“Why?”
“She said she wanted to make things easier after the wedding.”
Margaret swallowed.
“When I refused, she told me that everyone eventually becomes dependent on someone.”
Her hands began trembling.
“She said I could either choose the person or have one chosen for me.”
I remembered that morning.
Margaret had been crying in the greenhouse.
Vanessa told me she was upset because she'd misplaced her glasses.
Now I understood.
Dominic turned toward me.
“Did you notice anything unusual?”
“Yes.”
I told him about Margaret's former physician being replaced.
About the medication cabinet.
And about Vanessa forbidding me to accompany Margaret on appointments.
Then I remembered something else.
“Sir, she also asked me to sign a witness form last Thursday.”
Dominic stiffened.
“What witness form?”
“She said it was a routine acknowledgment that Mrs. Romano had received her medication.”
“Did you sign it?”
“Yes.”
My stomach dropped.
Vanessa had been unusually kind that afternoon.
She had even promised to pay Daniel's next rehabilitation bill.
Dominic noticed my expression.
“What is it?”
“She said my brother's treatment would be covered if I helped her keep things organized.”
Marco looked up.
“Do you have a copy?”
“No.”
Dominic rested one hand on my shoulder.
“You didn't know what she was doing.”
“But I signed something.”
“We'll find out what.”
At that moment, Oliver climbed onto the sofa beside Margaret.
“Grandma?”
“Yes, sweetheart?”
“Can I tell Daddy about the picture?”
Margaret looked startled.
“What picture?”
“The one Miss Elaine showed me.”
Dominic crossed the room.
“What was in it?”
Oliver hesitated.
“A lady holding me when I was a baby.”
Dominic's face softened.
“Your mother?”
Oliver nodded.
“Maybe.”
“Why maybe?”
“Because Vanessa said it wasn't really her.”
I felt Margaret's hand tighten around mine.
Dominic spoke carefully.
“What did Vanessa say?”
Oliver looked down.
“She said my real mom didn't want me.”
The room went silent.
Oliver reached into his pocket again.
He pulled out a small photograph, folded into quarters.
A smiling young woman held a newborn baby against her chest.
Dominic took it.
His face lost its color.
“Where did you get this?”
“Miss Elaine.”
Dominic turned the photograph over.
Written across the back was a name.
CLAIRE ROMANO.
May you like
And beneath it:
IF OLIVER EVER ASKS, TELL HIM I DIDN'T LEAVE.
