Chapter 16 - THE FINAL PLAN -
Lucas returned under federal escort.
He looked older than he had one week earlier.
The arrogance was gone.
So was the grin.
During the interview, he admitted creating the shell companies.
He admitted forging our signatures.
He admitted editing the video of Elena.
He admitted helping my mother prepare false psychiatric documents.
Then he described her final plan.
Vivian intended to portray Elena as unstable after the baby’s birth.
Dr. Mercer would alter her medical records.
A nurse on Vivian’s payroll would administer medication causing confusion and memory loss.
My mother would then seek emergency guardianship of the child.
Once Elena was declared unfit, Vivian planned to pressure me into signing over company control in exchange for access to my son.
“She said Daniel would surrender everything,” Lucas told investigators.
“Why did you agree?” Nathan asked.
Lucas stared at the table.
“Because she promised me the company.”
“Did you believe her?”
“I needed to.”
His answer did not excuse him.
It only revealed the prison he had helped build around himself.
Lucas identified the nurse.
She was arrested before entering the maternity ward.
In her locker, investigators found medication, forged authorization forms, and a document granting Vivian temporary custody of our baby.
The space for my signature was blank.
Everything else had already been completed.
Elena read the document from her hospital bed.
“She planned to take him before I even held him.”
“She will never touch him.”
“What about Lucas?”
“He will testify.”
“That isn’t what I asked.”
I understood.
Elena wanted to know whether I could forgive my brother.
“I don’t know.”
She nodded.
“You don’t have to decide now.”
That evening, Dr. Ramirez told us the baby might need to be delivered early.
Elena’s blood pressure had become unstable.
The medication Mercer gave her had left lasting complications.
Steroid injections were administered to strengthen the baby’s lungs.
I stayed beside her through the night.
Just before dawn, Elena woke and took my hand.
“Promise me something.”
“Anything.”
“If something happens to me, don’t let this family turn him into another weapon.”
“Nothing is going to happen to you.”
“Promise me.”
I pressed her hand to my lips.
“I promise.”
At seven fourteen in the morning, the fetal monitor changed.
Nurses entered the room.
Dr. Ramirez examined Elena and immediately called for an operating room.
Our son’s heart rate was falling.
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The baby had to be delivered.
Now.
