Chapter 4 - The Signature Margaret Needed)
Claire followed Margaret into the drawing room, where a nervous young notary sat beside a silver tea service. The waiver surrendered Claire’s interest in Blackwood House and granted Margaret temporary authority over Ethan’s medical decisions.
Claire read every page slowly.
“This clause lasts ten years,” she said.
Margaret smiled. “A standard precaution.”
“For whom?”
The notary looked down.
Claire picked up the pen, then deliberately dropped it into her tea.
“I need independent counsel.”
Margaret’s smile disappeared. Ethan said nothing, but relief flickered across his face.
That afternoon, the house changed around Claire. Staff members who had been warm during the wedding avoided her. Her car keys vanished. The landline stopped working. Margaret blamed storm damage, though every lamp and television remained on.
Claire searched the bedroom while Ethan showered. Inside his desk she found a file containing newspaper clippings about five infants born at Blackwood Memorial Hospital between 1994 and 2006. Each child had a rare blood disorder. Each mother had signed a confidential settlement with the Blackwood Foundation.
One clipping showed Anna entering the hospital under another name.
Ethan caught Claire holding it.
“I was going to show you.”
“When? Before or after your mother locked me in a room?”
He flinched. “The laundry lock engages automatically when the alarm system is armed.”
“And who armed it?”
He had no answer.
Ethan explained that his father founded a fertility research program. Charles died in a boating accident shortly after a federal audit began. Margaret closed the program, sealed its records, and raised Ethan to believe questions triggered his illness.
The port behind Ethan’s ear was not for drawing blood. It was a monitoring implant. Margaret injected a sedative through it on anniversaries, birthdays, and any night Ethan might remember what happened to Anna.
“Last night I pretended to swallow the sedative,” he said. “She tried to inject me. I pulled away, and the port tore.”
“That caused the stain.”
He nodded.
Claire wanted to believe him. Then she noticed a second toothbrush in the bathroom, still wet, though Margaret had supposedly returned to her suite hours ago.
At dusk, Claire’s maid of honor arrived unexpectedly. Margaret refused to let her in, saying the newlyweds had already left for their honeymoon.
From an upstairs window, Claire watched her friend drive away.
Behind her, Ethan said, “We have to get into the east wing tonight.”
Claire turned. “And if this is another trap?”
May you like
He placed the silver key in her palm.
“Then you should be the one holding the key.”
