Chương 11
“Did you believe her?” he asked.
“Sometimes.”
The answer hollowed him.
Gwen continued. “She did things that looked like care. She drove me. She washed my clothes. She sat beside the infusion chair and remembered which nurse bruised me. Then she would tell me I was ruining your life.”
“Why didn’t Dr. Ortiz call me?”
“I removed you from the contact form.”
He had not expected that.
“You did?”
“Yes.”
“Because of Mom?”
“Because of me.”
He straightened.
“I was afraid you would take over.”
He almost protested. Then he remembered choosing the apartment, calling attorneys, posting her diagnosis, deciding when questions needed answers.
“You were right,” he said.
Gwen looked at him through the mirror.
“That isn’t satisfying.”
“It isn’t meant to be.”
She tied the scarf again, slower this time.
The first major break in the property case came from an old tablet found in the shop office.
Luis discovered it inside a cabinet while clearing obsolete equipment. The battery was dead. Gavin recognized it as a device Margaret had used for company bookkeeping before replacing it.
He did not turn it on.
He called Tessa.
A computer specialist made a forensic copy. The tablet contained cached email and messages from Margaret’s account. Some were routine. Others showed discussions with Paige about the membership transfer after Gavin’s accident.
One message from Paige read: He’ll sign anything right now. He thinks it’s insurance.
Margaret replied: It is insurance. Against him losing everything to that wife when she gets tired of playing poor.
A later message said: Make sure the lawyer uses the old email. He doesn’t check it.
Gavin read the exchange in Tessa’s office.
His first reaction was relief. Proof.
His second was shame.
Gwen had not made Margaret suspicious. Margaret had distrusted her from the beginning.
“What old email?” Gavin asked.
Tessa pointed to the transfer records. The signature link had been sent to an address Gavin had not used in years, one Margaret could access through the family domain.
The technical records linked the signature session to the hospital’s guest network. Security footage no longer existed, but medical records confirmed Gavin was sedated for a procedure during the exact time the documents were executed.
It was not one perfect piece of evidence. It was several imperfect pieces pointing in the same direction.
Tessa filed an expanded claim seeking to invalidate the transfer and remove Margaret from management of the company. Rina filed a separate claim for Gwen’s unauthorized bank transfers and coercive waiver.
Margaret responded by accusing Gavin of stealing the tablet.
Luis had documented where he found it. The forensic specialist had preserved the data properly. The accusation slowed things but did not erase the messages.
Paige deleted her social-media post.
Copies remained.
Then she called Gwen.
Gwen watched the phone ring on the kitchen table.
Gavin was cutting an apple into slices because whole apples hurt her mouth. He put the knife down.
“You don’t have to answer,” he said.
“I know.”
The phone stopped.
A voicemail notification appeared.
Gwen listened with the speaker on.
Paige’s voice sounded smaller than usual.
“I’m not apologizing for everything because you’re acting like we kept you chained in a basement, which is insane. But the video got out of control. People found my work page. My boss is asking questions. I need you to tell them it was a family misunderstanding. You know I was helping you. Call me.”
Gavin reached for the phone.
Gwen covered it with her hand.
“I was going to replay it,” he said.
“No.”
“I wasn’t going to call her.”
“You reached.”
He drew his hand back.
Gwen saved the message and sent it to Rina. Then she turned the phone off.
“Do you want to answer?” Gavin asked.
“Part of me does.”
“What would you say?”
“I don’t know. Something cruel.”
“You’re allowed.”
“That doesn’t mean I want to become good at it.”
She ate one apple slice and pushed the plate away.
Several days later Paige arrived at the cancer clinic.
Gwen had just finished an infusion and was waiting for Marcus to bring the car around. Gavin was at the shop overseeing installation of the hospital stairs. Paige appeared at the end of the corridor in jeans and a blouse, without the lace dress, handbag, or jewelry. For a moment Gwen almost did not recognize her.
Rina later advised Gwen not to meet privately with opposing parties. At the time, there was no lawyer in the hallway, only patients, nurses, and a volunteer pushing a cart of crackers.
Paige stopped ten feet away.
“You blocked me,” she said.
“Yes.”
“I need two minutes.”
“No.”
Paige looked around. “Don’t make a scene.”
Gwen laughed softly.
The volunteer with the cracker cart glanced over.
Paige lowered her voice. “I lost my job.”
Gwen leaned against the wall. Her legs felt unreliable after treatment.
“I didn’t call your boss.”
“You didn’t have to. People sent them the video.”
“You posted it.”
“I was defending Mom.”
“From what?”
“From Gavin. From you. From everyone acting like she woke up one morning and decided to destroy your life.”
Gwen looked toward the clinic doors, waiting for Marcus.
Paige stepped closer. “She paid for everything. She spent months driving you around while Gavin played hero at some job site.”
“She also stole from me.”
“I took money for groceries, gas, cleaning, all the things you were too sick to do.”
“Thirteen thousand dollars?”
Paige’s face tightened. “Do you know what my time is worth?”
“No.”
The answer came so simply that Paige seemed briefly confused.
“You lived in that house for free,” Paige said. “You used Mom’s car. You had nurses calling at all hours. You threw up on her rug.”
“I cleaned the rug.”
“I cleaned it again.”
“Then send me a bill.”
Paige looked toward the nurses’ station.
“You always do that,” she said.
“Do what?”
“Make everything sound reasonable so everyone else looks crazy.”
May you like
Gwen studied her.
Paige’s anger was real. Beneath it was panic. Beneath the panic, something almost like hurt.
