Chương 6
Her mascara had smudged beneath one eye, and the elaborate curls pinned at the back of her head were beginning to loosen.
"You keep talking about me like I'm a case."
I folded my arms.
"You turned my life into evidence."
Her anger disappeared.
"Right."
She sat again.
"Right."
A bell chimed somewhere in the building.
It was noon.
The ceremony should have been ending.
Guests should have been heading toward cocktails and assigned tables.
Instead, somewhere across town, a reception hall was being told to stop serving a wedding that no longer existed.
I wondered what happened to two hundred untouched dinners.
The thought was ridiculous.
It stayed with me.
"Did you sign anything besides the affidavit?"
I asked.
"No."
I waited.
Chloe looked at me.
"Nothing with your name."
"That isn't what I asked."
She rubbed her hands together.
"I signed a narrative statement for the foundation."
"Under your own name?"
"Yes."
"Anything else?"
"A media release."
Eleanor's face hardened.
"What media release?"
"For the donor campaign."
"I never approved a donor campaign around your story."
"It wasn't public yet."
"Who drafted it?"
"Lauren and the communications team."
Eleanor immediately reached for her phone again.
This time I did not stop her.
She dialed.
A woman answered after several rings.
Eleanor walked several steps away.
"Lauren, it's Eleanor."
We could hear only her side.
"No, I need you to listen."
A pause.
"Did you notarize a statement signed by Clara Mercer?"
Another pause.
Eleanor's face became unreadable.
"When?"
She listened.
"No."
Then, "Do not destroy anything."
Chloe closed her eyes.
Eleanor continued.
"Do not call Chloe."
Another pause.
"Because I am telling you not to."
She ended the call.
"What did she say?" Chloe asked.
"She says you signed it in front of her."
I looked at Chloe.
"She says what?"
Chloe stared at Eleanor.
"That's not true."
Eleanor's voice went flat.
"She says you brought a woman who identified herself as your mother."
For the first time that morning, Chloe looked genuinely confused.
"What?"
"She says Clara Mercer signed the statement in her presence."
"I didn't bring anyone."
Eleanor held her gaze.
"Then someone is lying now."
Chloe stood.
"Lauren knew it was fake."
"According to Lauren, she did not."
"She's protecting herself."
"Obviously."
"But she's lying."
"Possibly."
Chloe's breathing quickened.
"I never brought anyone to her office."
I watched her carefully.
For all the lies I had heard, this one felt different.
Not because I trusted her.
Because she was surprised in a way shame could not imitate.
"Where did you get the notary seal?" I asked.
"I didn't."
"Then how did the document get notarized?"
"I emailed Lauren the draft."
"And?"
"She told me she'd take care of it."
Eleanor frowned.
"What exactly did you tell her?"
Chloe hesitated.
"That my mother wasn't available."
"Dead?"
"No."
"Abusive?"
"Yes."
"Did Lauren know you were using it for the foundation?"
"Eventually."
Eleanor's phone rang.
Lauren.
She answered immediately.
"What?"
She listened.
Her eyes narrowed.
"Send them."
Another pause.
"All of them."
She ended the call.
"She's sending security stills."
Chloe's face went pale.
"From where?"
"Foundation headquarters."
"I was never there with anyone."
The phone chimed repeatedly.
Eleanor opened the first attachment.
Then the second.
Her lips parted.
She handed the phone to me.
The photograph was grainy but clear enough.
A woman stood beside Lauren in a glass-walled office.
She had shoulder-length brown hair, a plain cardigan, and reading glasses hanging from a chain.
She looked nothing like me.
On the desk in front of her sat the affidavit bearing my name.
Chloe leaned over my shoulder.
"I've never seen her before."
I zoomed in.
The woman's face meant nothing to me.
Another image showed her signing.
Another showed Lauren checking identification.
Eleanor scrolled to the next attachment.
A photograph of a driver's license filled the screen.
My name was on it.
So was my date of birth.
The address was my house.
The photograph belonged to the stranger.
I felt the cathedral shift beneath my feet.
"Mom?"
I sat down.
Chloe crouched beside me despite the dress.
"I didn't do that."
I could not answer.
The document was no longer merely a lie told by a frightened daughter.
Someone had created an identity.
Mine.
"Who had my information?" I asked.
Chloe shook her head.
"I don't know."
"You knew my address."
"Obviously."
"My birth date."
"Yes."
"Full legal name."
"Yes."
Eleanor said, "That's not difficult information to obtain."
I looked at her.
"For you, maybe."
"For almost anyone with enough public records and a little effort."
Chloe whispered, "Lauren could have."
Eleanor's expression tightened.
"Don't accuse her because you're frightened."
"I'm not."
"You are."
"Fine, I am."
Chloe stood.
"But I didn't bring that woman."
I looked again at the photograph.
Something about the stranger bothered me.
Not familiarity.
Construction.
Her hair color was close to mine.
Her age could pass for mine at a glance.
Even the cardigan resembled something I might wear.
Someone had not chosen a random woman.
Someone had chosen a plausible version of Clara Mercer.
I enlarged the image again.
A bracelet appeared on the stranger's wrist.
Thin gold links.
A small blue enamel charm.
Chloe made a sound beside me.
"What?"
She pointed.
"That bracelet."
"You know it?"
Her eyes moved to Eleanor.
Eleanor noticed.
"What?"
Chloe swallowed.
"Lauren has one exactly like that."
Eleanor took the phone back and studied the image.
"That proves nothing."
"No."
Chloe's voice was barely audible.
"But I gave it to her."
The air went still again.
"When?" I asked.
"Last Christmas."
"Why?"
"Because she helped me."
Eleanor looked up sharply.
"Helped you with what?"
Chloe's face changed.
There it was again.
Another locked door.
I stood before she could evade me.
"Open it."
She looked at me.
"Mom."
"Whatever is behind that expression, open it now."
Tears filled her eyes.
"I needed someone to make the story consistent."
Eleanor's hand dropped to her side.
May you like
"What does that mean?"
Chloe pressed her lips together.
