No one spoke for several seconds after Celeste said Arthur intended to “use the mother.”
I hated the phrase.
Not kill.
Not hide.
Use.
It implied purpose.
A second function I had not yet understood.
Harris ended the interview soon afterward.
Celeste’s lawyer had started objecting.
Ruiz left to verify the clinic timeline.
Lena came back into the room only after the screen went dark.
“What does ‘use the mother’ mean?”
“I don’t know.”
“You okay?”
“No.”
“Good. Same.”
Nora woke.
The sound broke the tension.
I lifted her from the bassinet and fed her while Harris remained at the table reviewing notes.
He did not rush.
I appreciated that.
When Nora settled, I looked at him.
“What clause are we missing?”
He looked up.
“You assume it’s the trust.”
“What else could make me useful after Nora is born?”
“Custody.”
“They already had that plan.”
“Medical authority.”
“Also part of the plan.”
“Financial signatures.”
“My forged signature was easier before the birth.”
Harris nodded.
“So what changed?”
“Arthur said the old plan became useless once Nora was born.”
“Yes.”
“The old plan was eliminating her future trust interest.”
“Likely.”
“So the new plan uses me to reach the trust another way.”
Harris closed the notebook.
“That is reasonable.”
“Marianne needs to read every clause.”
“She already is.”
“Not summaries.”
“She has the full documents.”
“Get her here.”
Lena pointed toward the door.
“She practically lives here now.”
Marianne arrived forty-five minutes later carrying two binders and looking as if she had not slept in a week.
“I found something.”
“Of course you did.”
She sat.
“It’s obscure.”
“Explain it simply.”
“The trust was designed to keep control away from Marcus while preserving family stewardship.”
“Family stewardship sounds dangerous now.”
“I agree.”
“What does it mean?”
“Until Nora reaches twenty-five, certain extraordinary corporate decisions require approval from both the independent trustee and a designated family representative.”
“Who?”
“Originally Victor.”
“And if Victor dies?”
“The beneficiary’s surviving competent parent.”
I stared.
“Me.”
“Yes.”
There it was.
Use the mother.
I looked at Harris.
Arthur’s sentence made sense.
“What extraordinary decisions?”
Marianne opened the binder.
“Sale of controlling company assets. Merger. Dissolution. Conversion of certain trust-held voting shares.”
“Could I access money?”
“Not personally.”
“Could I control the company?”
“Not alone.”
“But my signature matters.”
“Yes.”
“And Marcus?”
“If you were married and acting jointly in some capacities, he could potentially influence you, but he is not the designated representative.”
“So Arthur needed me alive.”
Marianne nodded slowly.
“After Nora’s birth, yes.”
Lena leaned forward.
“Alive and competent?”
“That depends.”
“What if she were declared incompetent?”
“Then the court could appoint a representative.”
“Evelyn.”
“Possibly, but the Mercer amendment makes Carter family appointments much harder.”
“What if the court thought I voluntarily chose someone?”
Marianne stopped.
“That would be different.”
My stomach tightened.
“Power of attorney.”
Harris immediately understood.
“Exactly.”
Marianne turned pages.
“If she executed a sufficiently broad durable power of attorney after Nora’s birth—”
“Someone could act through me.”
“Potentially.”
“Who?”
“Whoever you named.”
“Under Emily Sloan?”
“No. It would need your real identity.”
So the fake identity plan was obsolete after birth.
Arthur needed me restored to myself just enough to sign away authority.
“What if the signature were forged?”
“Much more difficult now. The trust’s anti-fraud protections were strengthened.”
“So they would need me on video.”
“Yes.”
“Coherent.”
“Yes.”
“Alive.”
“Yes.”
Lena’s face hardened.
“Sedated?”
Marianne looked uncomfortable.
“Possibly enough to control, not enough to invalidate obvious consent.”
I thought of the tea.
The pills.
The clinic.
They had experience calibrating compliance.
“What person would Arthur want me to appoint?”
We all knew the answer might not be a Carter.
The Mercer amendment blocked them.
Arthur would choose someone outside the family.
Someone apparently neutral.
Someone he controlled.
“Daniel?” I asked.
Marianne shook her head.
“Too exposed.”
“Dr. Kent?”
“Potentially.”
Harris’s phone buzzed.
He read it.
Then looked up.
“Maybe we don’t have to guess.”
“What?”
“Ruiz found Kent.”
“Where?”
“Not physically.”
“What does that mean?”
“His passport was used yesterday.”
“Airport?”
“Yes.”
“Leaving the country?”
“No.”
“Where did he go?”
“Private terminal.”
Lena frowned.
“He flew private?”
“A charter registered to a company.”
“What company?”
Harris looked at Marianne.
“Bell Strategic Holdings.”
Her face changed.
“Arthur.”
The dead man owned a company.
“Where did the plane go?”
“Chicago.”
“Why?”
“Unknown.”
“What’s in Chicago?”
Marianne suddenly sat straighter.
“The trustee.”
Silence.
“Nora’s trust company?”
“Yes. Main office.”
Everything clicked.
Arthur was moving toward the institution that controlled the shares.
“What would Kent do there?”
“Provide medical documentation.”
My skin tightened.
“About me.”
“Possibly.”
“But I’m here.”
“He could submit records.”
“Fake psychiatric records.”
“Yes.”
“Or competency evaluations.”
Marianne nodded.
“If they already prepared them.”
The false hospital note.
The Emily Sloan clinic file.
My supposed instability.
Pieces of a competency challenge.
“But Arthur said use the mother.”
Harris stood.
“He may need you discredited and then represented by someone else.”
Marianne shook her head.
“Not enough. The Mercer amendment anticipated incapacity.”
“What does it say?”
“If the surviving parent becomes incompetent involuntarily, the independent trustee—not the family—chooses a temporary representative.”
“Then Arthur gains nothing.”
“Unless…”
She stopped.
“Unless what?”
“Unless the parent voluntarily appoints someone before incapacity.”
Durable power of attorney.
Again.
So they needed my signature before the records made me officially incompetent.
Order mattered.
First consent.
Then collapse.
Then someone acts in my name.
“What document would I sign?”
Marianne turned more pages.
“A limited governance proxy.”
“What does it do?”
“Transfers your approval authority over extraordinary company actions.”
“To whom?”
“Any eligible adult not otherwise disqualified.”
“That could be Arthur.”
“Not under his dead identity.”
“Arthur Rose.”
Marianne looked at me.
“Possibly.”
There it was.
A path back into Carter Industrial.
Arthur had spent years hidden.
If Nora inherited control and I appointed Arthur Rose as my proxy, he could regain influence without ever appearing as Arthur Bell.
“Would the trustee know who Arthur Rose really is?”
“No.”
“Victor?”
“Yes.”
“Evelyn?”
“Yes.”
“Marcus?”
“Yes.”
“That’s why they’re dangerous to him.”
Harris nodded.
“Likely.”
“And me?”
“You now know.”
That was the second reason Arthur might want me controlled.
I held Nora closer.
“What company decision is coming?”
Marianne looked at me.
“The Friday board action.”
“Tomorrow.”
“Yes.”
“What happens?”
“Victor’s resignation becomes permanent. Marcus and Evelyn are removed. The board appoints interim leadership.”
“That seems good.”
“There’s another proposal.”
I waited.
“Sale of a major Carter Industrial division.”
“How major?”
“Nearly forty percent of company value.”
“To whom?”
Marianne looked sick.
“A private investment group.”
“Name?”
“Bell Strategic Holdings is part of the consortium.”
Arthur.
The entire plan emerged at once.
He did not merely want old crimes hidden.
He wanted the company.
“What does Nora’s trust control?”
“Enough voting interest that once her rights became active at birth, the trustee’s position could block the sale.”
“So yesterday, before Nora was born, Arthur could still rely on the waiver.”
“Yes.”
“When that failed—”
“He needed another path.”
“Me.”
“Yes.”
“If I appointed him proxy…”
“He could argue he held the family-representative consent necessary for the transaction.”
“Would that guarantee the sale?”
“No.”
“But it could make it possible.”
“Yes.”
Lena stared at Marianne.
“So this started as family corruption and turned into a takeover.”
“Possibly.”
“No. Look at the timing.”
I did.
Arthur met with them three months ago.
The forged waiver began.
Friday board meeting.
Sale proposal.
Nora’s birth activating the trust.
Marcus panicking because his own inheritance vanished.
Evelyn protecting her old crimes.
Arthur positioned above all of them.
Maybe he had allowed their conflicts to worsen because every scandal weakened Carter control.
“What does Arthur gain from Marcus being arrested?”
Harris answered.
“Marcus is removed.”
“Evelyn?”
“Removed.”
“Victor?”
“Resigning.”
“Three obstacles gone.”
“Yes.”
“And if I sign?”
“The family-representative authority could be redirected.”
“To Arthur.”
“Potentially.”
I suddenly understood something worse.
“He didn’t need Marcus to succeed completely.”
Everyone looked at me.
“Arthur helped create the plan against me.”
“Yes,” Harris said.
“But he also let Marcus use methods guaranteed to create evidence.”
“The cage,” Lena whispered.
“Exactly.”
Evelyn had called it reckless.
Arthur called Marcus an amateur.
Yet Arthur had not stopped him.
Why?
“Because Marcus getting caught served Arthur.”
Harris’s expression sharpened.
“If Arthur expected exposure, yes.”
“He let Marcus destroy himself.”
“Possible.”
“He let Evelyn implicate herself cleaning up the mess.”
“Yes.”
“Victor’s old crimes would surface too.”
“Yes.”
“All the Carter adults weakened at once.”
Silence.
Lena looked at Nora.
“And the only Carter interest left clean belongs to a newborn.”
I felt cold.
A newborn whose mother could supposedly appoint Arthur’s proxy.
The elegance of it made me sick.
“Where is Arthur now?”
“Unknown.”
“Chicago?”
“Maybe.”
“Dr. Kent?”
“Likely with him.”
“Trustee?”
Harris was already calling someone.
Marianne stood.
“I need to contact outside counsel immediately.”
“Tell them I authorize nothing.”
“We should make that formal.”
“Do it.”
“Written statement. Video confirmation. Independent counsel.”
“All of it.”
Lena smiled grimly.
“Now you’re speaking my language.”
Marianne began making calls.
Harris spoke quietly near the window.
I looked at Nora.
“You’re causing corporate chaos and you can’t hold your own head up.”
Lena sat beside me.
“She gets that from you.”
I almost laughed.
Then Harris ended his call.
“The trustee confirms someone contacted them this morning.”
My stomach tightened.
“Who?”
“Dr. Kent.”
“What did he submit?”
“Medical documentation regarding your competency.”
My hands went cold.
“Already?”
“Yes.”
“Did they accept it?”
“No.”
Relief came too quickly.
“Why not?”
“Because they requested direct verification from you.”
“And?”
“Someone provided a video.”
The room froze.
“What video?”
“A woman identifying herself as you.”
Celeste?
No.
She was under protection.
“Did it look like me?”
Harris’s face hardened.
“Enough that the trustee asked for additional confirmation instead of immediately rejecting it.”
“Who was she?”
“We don’t know.”
“Was Arthur with her?”
“Not visible.”
“What did the woman say?”
“That you wished to appoint a temporary representative because childbirth had caused severe emotional instability.”
The same story again.
“Who did she appoint?”
Harris looked at Marianne.
“Arthur Rose.”
There it was.
The dead man had reached directly for Nora’s trust.
And somewhere in Chicago, another woman was wearing my identity.
Click here to continue reading: PART 21: The Woman Pretending to Be Me in Chicago Knew Details Only Marcus Had Recorded During My Weeks Inside the Basement Cage
The Night My Husband Carried a Welding Torch Downstairs and Told Me Nobody Would Ever Come Looking
Part 20 of 40
