Chapter 10 - THE DEATH CERTIFICATE
Amelia’s death certificate was filed in a county courthouse three hundred miles from Hart Manor.
It stated that Amelia Helen Hart died at age seventeen from injuries sustained in a riding accident.
The body had been identified by Theodore Hart.
The certificate was sealed four days later.
Amelia stood inside a private records room while Nathaniel read the document.
“This is not a simple forged identity,” he said. “Someone legally declared you dead, then created a second version of you.”
“For what purpose?”
“To separate your financial identity from your physical existence.”
“Explain.”
“The dead Amelia could own accounts, approve transfers, and serve as a beneficiary without attracting ordinary tax or identity checks. The living Amelia continued using military records under a federal identification system.”
“And my father signed the identification.”
“Yes.”
Amelia stared at his signature.
It looked real.
“Could it be forged?”
“Possibly.”
“Do you believe it was?”
Nathaniel did not answer quickly enough.
Amelia closed the file.
They returned to Theodore’s medical facility.
His health had improved, but the doctors warned against stress.
Amelia entered his room carrying the certificate.
She placed it on his bed.
Theodore read the first line.
All color drained from his face.
“Where did you find this?”
“You knew.”
He looked toward the door.
“Answer me.”
“I thought it had been destroyed.”
“You identified my body.”
“There was no body.”
“Then why sign it?”
“To protect you.”
Amelia laughed bitterly.
“Everyone commits crimes to protect me.”
Theodore struggled upright.
“After your mother died, someone attempted to abduct you.”
“I was never told.”
“You were unconscious for two days after a riding accident.”
“I remember falling.”
“You did not fall. The saddle strap was cut.”
Amelia’s anger paused.
Theodore continued.
“Samuel Kane found evidence that the people behind Orpheus intended to use you as leverage. He created a false death record.”
“With your help.”
“Yes.”
“And the financial accounts?”
“I did not create them.”
“But your signature appears.”
“I signed blank trust protections Samuel gave me. I believed they would hide your inheritance until you became an adult.”
“Someone used them to move weapons money.”
Theodore closed his eyes.
“I suspected it years later.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because by then you had joined the military. Publicly exposing the identity fraud could have ended your career and implicated you in financial crimes.”
“So you let it continue?”
“I tried to trace it quietly.”
“With Cassandra?”
“No.”
“Victor?”
“No.”
“Sebastian?”
Theodore’s eyes opened.
“Who told you that name?”
“Margaret Quinn.”
Fear returned to his face.
“Margaret is alive?”
“She was murdered yesterday.”
Theodore turned away.
Amelia moved closer.
“What happened to Sebastian?”
“He died in the fire.”
“Records show he survived.”
“He survived the flames. Not what came after.”
“What came after?”
Theodore’s voice lowered.
“Our father sent him to a private institution.”
“For children?”
“For people the family wanted forgotten.”
Amelia stared at him.
“Did you ever visit?”
“Once.”
“What did you see?”
“A boy who no longer believed he was my brother.”
Theodore looked at the rain against the window.
“He said our father had chosen me because I was obedient. He promised that one day he would take everything attached to the Hart name.”
“Did he escape?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“The year before your mother died.”
“Then he may still be alive.”
Theodore’s silence confirmed it.
Amelia placed the death certificate beside him.
“Was Sebastian involved in Orpheus?”
“I never proved it.”
“Was Cassandra’s father working with him?”
“I don’t know.”
“Who do you trust?”
Theodore looked at her.
“No one who wants the company.”
“That includes Cassandra.”
“Yes.”
“Julian.”
“Yes.”
“Victor.”
“Yes.”
“Nathaniel?”
Theodore hesitated.
“I do not know what Nathaniel wants.”
Amelia turned toward the glass wall.
Nathaniel stood on the other side.
He had heard.
Theodore followed her gaze.
“Your marriage made you a target,” he said.
“My birth made me a target.”
“Your husband’s family built the weapon. Mine built the road it traveled on.”
“And someone used both families.”
“Yes.”
“Who?”
Theodore reached toward the drawer beside his bed.
Inside was a folded legal document.
“I changed my will.”
“When?”
“Six weeks ago.”
“To leave Hart Meridian to Cassandra?”
“No.”
“To me?”
“No.”
Amelia stared at him.
“Then who inherits?”
“The company will transfer to a protective trust until Orpheus is exposed.”
“Who controls the trust?”
Theodore handed her the document.
The trustee’s name had been blacked out.
“I removed the name from this copy,” he said.
“Why?”
“Because the trustee is the only person who can identify Sebastian.”
“Tell me.”
“I cannot.”
“You mean you will not.”
Theodore looked suddenly exhausted.
“If Cassandra learns the name, that person will die.”
A nurse entered to check his medication.
Amelia stepped into the corridor.
Nathaniel waited.
“He declared me dead,” she said.
“I heard.”
“And you were ordered to watch me.”
“Yes.”
“Did your father know I had a false death certificate?”
“I found a sealed reference in his private files this morning.”
“You did not tell me.”
“I was verifying it.”
Amelia looked at him with disbelief.
“You are still deciding what I deserve to know.”
Nathaniel absorbed the accusation.
Then he removed a key from his pocket.
It was old, iron, and marked with a wingless angel.
“I found this inside my father’s safe,” he said.
Amelia stared at it.
“Why would he have that?”
“There was also a note.”
Nathaniel handed her a small piece of paper.
On it, his father had written:
May you like
When Theodore Hart dies, give this key to his daughter.
Do not give it to Nathaniel.
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