Chapter 12 - The Forty-Two Million Dollar Baby
The police separated everyone.
Leah was moved into a private room with Eli.
Mae remained nearby.
Nathan was questioned in another office.
Simone was taken downstairs.
Doreen demanded an attorney.
Dr. Rusk stopped answering questions entirely.
Around six that evening, a hospital attorney named Benjamin Hale entered Leah’s room.
He carried a thick folder.
“I owe you an apology on behalf of Briar Glen.”
Leah stared at him.
“You owe me more than an apology.”
“I agree.”
That surprised him.
He sat down.
“We have frozen all nonessential access to your medical record.”
“Dr. Rusk has been placed on immediate administrative suspension.”
“What about the psychiatric hold?”
“There is no hold.”
Leah exhaled.
“The application was never completed.”
“But someone wanted you to believe it had been.”
Leah looked at Eli.
“And the custody papers?”
Hale opened the folder.
“We found something concerning.”
He showed her a copy of a trust agreement.
The document had been created sixteen years earlier by Nathan’s father, Harrison Carver.
Harrison had built a logistics company worth hundreds of millions.
When he died, Doreen inherited property and annual income.
But the controlling family trust went to future grandchildren.
The first biological male grandchild received the largest individual share.
That child was now Eli.
Leah stared at the number.
$42,680,000.
Her hands went cold.
“This belongs to my baby?”
“Technically, it is held in trust for him.”
“His guardian controls certain decisions.”
Leah understood immediately.
“Nathan.”
“Yes.”
“And if I were declared incompetent?”
“He could potentially petition for sole guardianship.”
“And Doreen could control Nathan.”
Hale did not answer.
He did not have to.
Leah looked toward the window.
“All of this for money.”
Mae stood near the bassinet.
“Money and control.”
Hale nodded.
“There is another issue.”
Leah closed her eyes.
“Of course there is.”
“The authorization Nathan mentioned.”
“The one I supposedly signed.”
Hale handed her a photocopy.
Leah recognized her signature.
But the page above it was unfamiliar.
Emergency Temporary Care Authorization.
“I never saw this.”
“We believe the signature page may have been attached to a different document when you signed.”
Leah looked at him.
“Is that legal?”
“No.”
Nathan appeared at the doorway.
A police officer stood behind him.
Leah’s entire body stiffened.
Hale rose.
“I’ll give you privacy if you want it.”
“No.”
Leah looked at Nathan.
“He can speak.”
Nathan stepped inside.
His eyes were red.
“My mother forged the packet.”
Leah laughed bitterly.
“You expect me to believe you knew nothing?”
“I knew about the custody plan.”
Nathan swallowed.
“I did not know about the forged signature.”
“That distinction doesn’t save you.”
“I know.”
Leah looked at him.
“Then tell me everything.”
May you like
Nathan lowered his head.
And finally, he did.
