Chapter 3 - Beth’s First Lie
Beth agreed to meet Claire at a café across town.
She chose a place far from the neighborhood where their parents lived and insisted they sit in the back corner.
When Claire arrived, Beth was already there. She wore oversized sunglasses despite the cloudy afternoon and kept checking the entrance.
“You look like you’re hiding from someone,” Claire said.
Beth removed the glasses.
There were dark circles beneath her eyes.
“I am hiding from everyone.”
Claire placed a printed copy of the authorization agreement on the table.
“Is that your signature?”
Beth looked at it for only a second.
“Yes.”
The direct answer surprised Claire.
“You signed away control of my maternity account?”
“That is not what they told me it was.”
“What did they tell you?”
“A temporary family investment authorization. Dad said he found an opportunity involving a medical office building. He needed permission to move money between accounts for ninety days.”
“Did you read it?”
Beth looked away.
“I trusted him.”
“You signed a document affecting both of us without calling me?”
“He said you had already agreed.”
“And you believed him?”
Beth’s eyes filled with anger.
“I was in the hospital.”
Claire stopped.
Beth had spent two nights under observation early in her pregnancy. Marlene had told Claire it was dehydration.
“Why were you in the hospital?”
“Complications. Stress. It does not matter.”
“It matters if Dad put legal documents in front of you while you were medicated.”
“I was not unconscious, Claire.”
“That is not what I asked.”
Beth lowered her voice.
“He came into the room with Mom. They said the family business had a temporary cash problem. They said if I did not sign, employees might lose their jobs.”
“What family business?”
“The Ward Foundation.”
Claire stared at her.
The Ward Foundation was not a business. It was a charitable organization Richard had established to fund maternal health programs and emergency housing for women.
At least, that was what its website claimed.
“Why would a charity need money from our private accounts?”
“They said a major donor delayed a payment.”
“And the six withdrawals?”
Beth’s face changed.
“What six withdrawals?”
“Three thousand dollars a month. Eighteen thousand total.”
“I did not authorize those.”
“Your signature is attached to the agreement that allowed them.”
Beth pulled the paper closer. She examined the transaction code near the bottom.
“I have never seen this page.”
“It was part of the same file.”
“No. The document I signed was four pages.”
“This says nine.”
Beth’s hands began trembling.
Claire watched her sister carefully.
Beth had always been a convincing liar. As a teenager, she had taken their mother’s diamond bracelet, worn it to a party, and blamed Claire when it disappeared. She confessed only after security footage from a hotel showed the bracelet on her wrist.
But Beth’s fear now looked different.
It was not the fear of being caught.
It was the fear of realizing she had been used.
“Grant cannot know,” Beth whispered.
“He is your husband.”
“He will think I helped them steal.”
“Did you?”
Beth looked up sharply.
“No.”
“Then help me prove it.”
Beth leaned back.
“You do not understand what Dad can do.”
“He closed my account.”
“He can do worse.”
“What has he done to you?”
Beth’s phone vibrated.
A message appeared from Richard.
Where are you?
Beth quickly turned the screen over.
Claire saw enough.
Their father was tracking her.
“How did he know you left home?” Claire asked.
Beth placed the phone in her purse.
“He knows everything.”
“No one knows everything.”
“Dad does.”
Claire slid the agreement back across the table.
“I am going to an attorney.”
Beth caught her wrist.
“Wait until after the shower.”
“Why?”
“Because Mom invited board members from the foundation. The family accountant will be there. So will several donors.”
“That sounds like the perfect time to ask questions.”
“You cannot confront them in public.”
“Why not?”
Beth’s voice dropped to a whisper.
“Because they are planning to make you look unstable.”
Claire went still.
Beth released her wrist.
“Mom has been telling people your pregnancy has made you paranoid. Dad says Ethan is trying to isolate you and seize control of your inheritance.”
“What inheritance?”
Beth stared at her.
“You really do not know.”
Before Claire could ask another question, Beth stood.
“I should never have come.”
“Beth.”
Her sister walked toward the exit.
At the door, she turned back.
“The $18,000 was not taken from your account to pay expenses.”
“How do you know?”
“Because I saw one of the invoices.”
“What was it for?”
Beth’s lips parted.
May you like
Then the café door opened behind her.
Richard Ward stepped inside.
