Chapter 4 - MY SISTER'S PRICE
Rebecca asked to see me forty-eight hours later.
My first answer was no.
My second answer was worse.
“Tell her to rot.”
Daniel didn’t correct me.
Neither did Detective Alvarez.
But Mara said something that changed my mind.
“If Rebecca was the mastermind, she wouldn’t be asking for you.”
“What would she be doing?”
“Negotiating.”
“She has a lawyer.”
“Not anymore.”
Victor Hale had disappeared.
His office was closed.
His phone was disconnected.
And sometime during the night, nearly four million dollars had been transferred from one of the trust’s international accounts.
Alvarez believed Victor was preparing to run.
Rebecca apparently believed something else.
That Victor and my mother intended to make sure she took the blame for everything.
So I agreed.
We met in a secure interview room at the hospital because my doctors still refused to discharge me.
Rebecca entered wearing county-issued clothing.
No makeup.
No jewelry.
For the first time in years, she looked younger than me.
She sat across the table.
Her eyes went immediately to my stomach.
“Is she alive?”
I wanted to hit her.
Instead I said,
“Yes.”
Rebecca began crying.
“Claire—”
“Don't.”
“I didn't mean—”
“You kicked my daughter.”
“I kicked you.”
The room became dangerously quiet.
Daniel stood behind me.
Rebecca realized what she had said.
“I mean—”
“You thought that made it better?”
“No.”
“You knew I was pregnant.”
“Yes.”
“You looked at my stomach before you did it.”
She covered her face.
“I know.”
“Then tell me why.”
Rebecca cried for almost a minute.
Then she whispered,
“Mom said you were destroying us.”
“Our mother says a lot of things.”
“She said Grandma's trust would bankrupt Dad.”
“That makes no sense.”
“She said when your baby was born, everything would freeze.”
“Freeze?”
“All the accounts.”
Mara had told me something similar.
Independent trustees often temporarily restricted access during transition.
Rebecca continued.
“Dad owes money.”
“How much?”
“I don't know.”
“Try.”
She looked at me.
“Millions.”
Daniel spoke.
“To whom?”
“I don't know.”
“You expect us to believe that?”
Rebecca slammed both palms on the table.
“I was never part of the money!”
“You were part of kicking my pregnant wife.”
“I know!”
Daniel stepped forward.
I touched his arm.
He stopped.
Rebecca lowered her voice.
“Mom came to my apartment three weeks ago.”
“What did she want?”
“She told me they needed help.”
“What kind?”
“She said you were going to sign papers giving everything to Daniel.”
I laughed bitterly.
“That was a lie.”
“I know that now.”
“What did she ask you to do?”
Rebecca stared at the table.
“Start a fight.”
Daniel’s jaw clenched.
“With Claire?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“She wanted you upset.”
“Why?”
“She said stress could make you change your mind.”
I felt sick.
“Change my mind about what?”
“Signing an amendment.”
There was no legitimate amendment.
Victor had repeatedly told me the trust was irrevocable.
“What amendment?”
Rebecca shook her head.
“I never saw it.”
“What did Mom promise you?”
Her silence answered.
“Money.”
She cried harder.
“My credit cards are maxed.”
Of course.
“You kicked me for money.”
“No!”
“Then what?”
“She told me to shove you.”
My body became very still.
“What?”
“She said create a scene.”
“Did she tell you to kick me?”
Rebecca hesitated.
“No.”
For the first time, I believed her.
Not because it excused anything.
It didn’t.
She had still chosen violence.
But something in her face had changed.
“So why did you?”
“Because you said Grandma didn't trust me.”
“I said Grandma didn't trust Mom and Dad with the accounts.”
“I heard what I wanted to hear.”
“That nearly killed my daughter.”
“I know.”
“No.”
I leaned forward.
“You don't know.”
My eyes burned.
“You didn't lie awake listening to a machine wondering whether your baby would have a heartbeat in the morning.”
Rebecca sobbed.
“You didn't watch doctors discussing whether they needed to cut her out of you three months early.”
“Claire…”
“You don't know.”
She nodded.
“You’re right.”
For once, Rebecca stopped defending herself.
Then she looked toward the mirror on the wall.
“I know something else.”
“What?”
“The woman who came to your hospital room.”
Daniel became alert.
“What about her?”
“I've seen her before.”
“Where?”
“Victor’s house.”
I stared.
“When?”
“Three months ago.”
“What were you doing at Victor’s house?”
“Mom took me.”
“Why?”
Rebecca wiped her eyes.
“They were talking about Grandma’s documents.”
“Who?”
“Mom.”
“Victor.”
“And?”
Rebecca hesitated.
“Dad.”
Daniel leaned forward.
“Anyone else?”
Rebecca looked terrified.
“Yes.”
“Who?”
“Uncle Thomas.”
My mother’s brother.
The man grilling hamburgers while his niece lay on the lawn.
The man who had told police he saw nothing.
I felt the floor shift under me.
Rebecca whispered,
“They called it the contingency plan.”
“What contingency?”
She looked at my stomach.
“The baby.”
Then she said the sentence that finally showed me how deep the conspiracy went.
“They had a plan for what happened if she was born.”
I stared at her.
May you like
Rebecca shook her head.
“And another plan for what happened if she wasn't.”
