Chương 3
“They’re already here,” she said.
Daniel crossed to the glass. “Two local stations. Several freelance crews.”
“How?”
“Half the ballroom recorded it.”
Sophia gave a short laugh that held no humor. “My cousin livestreamed the first dance rehearsal yesterday. She probably has a ring light in her purse.”
Claire touched the monitor strap. “Can we use the loading dock?”
Daniel nodded. “Ambulance entrance. No branding.”
Dr. Levin looked at him. “She doesn’t need to be smuggled. She needs to be transported safely.”
“Those are not mutually exclusive.”
The physician finished writing a note. “Five minutes.”
When he left, quiet settled over the suite.
Sophia picked up her veil, then placed it back down without unfolding it. “I thought Adam owned this hotel.”
“He did.”
“And now you do.”
“The trust does. I control the trust until the baby is born. After that, I manage it on his behalf.”
“Margaret told me the board voted to transfer control to Evan.”
“She told the board that too.”
Sophia looked toward Daniel. “Did they?”
“No,” he said.
“Did Evan know?”
Daniel’s face gave nothing away.
Claire answered for him. “Yes.”
Sophia rubbed the heel of her hand over her forehead, careful not to disturb her makeup. “I asked him why the wedding invoices were being sent through Bennett Heritage. He said it was a family benefit.”
“It was not.”
“He said Margaret had arranged it with accounting.”
“She forged my approval.”
Sophia’s hand stopped.
Claire had not intended to say it so bluntly. The day had left her with little patience for cushioning facts.
“The medical report wasn’t the first document,” she continued. “It was only the first one she displayed in front of two hundred people.”
Sophia stared at the dark window.
“I signed one,” she said.
Daniel turned from the glass. “What did you sign?”
“A declaration. Margaret said the probate attorneys needed a statement that Claire and Adam had not met before Thanksgiving.”
Claire’s fingers went cold against the monitor strap.
Sophia spoke faster now, as if speed could make the admission less deliberate. “She said Adam had told Evan at Thanksgiving that he’d met someone new. She had photographs, calendars. She showed me a hotel guest log with Claire’s name in December. I thought it was confirming when the relationship began.”
“You never asked Claire,” Daniel said.
“No.”
“Why not?”
Sophia met his eyes. “Because I was getting married today, and the answer I had was convenient.”
The baby’s heartbeat continued, steady and indifferent.
Claire looked at Sophia’s hands. A pale strip marked the place where her engagement ring had been. She had removed it without Claire noticing.
“I did meet Adam in October,” Claire said. “At a preservation hearing. He spilled coffee on the only copy of my notes.”
Sophia’s mouth twitched despite herself. “Margaret said you met at a charity dinner.”
“Margaret wasn’t there.”
“Apparently that hasn’t limited her.”
Claire turned her face away before the tears could finally fall.
She had not cried when Adam’s car left the road on a rain-dark bridge. She had cried in small, inconvenient installments afterward: in the cereal aisle when she saw the brand he hated, in the hotel laundry when someone used his fabric softener, at three in the morning because one of his socks had been trapped inside the fitted sheet.
Now one tear slid into her hair.
Sophia pretended not to see it.
The ambulance took Claire through the loading dock. Daniel rode with her. Sophia remained behind to give a statement and inform the guests that the reception was over.
Claire watched fluorescent lights pass above the stretcher while a paramedic asked routine questions. Her age. Due date. Allergies. Previous pregnancies. Pain level.
“Three,” she said.
Daniel raised one eyebrow.
“Four.”
The paramedic adjusted a strap. “You don’t win anything for being stoic.”
“I’ve heard.”
“People hear lots of useful things.”
At St. Vincent’s, Dr. Shah met them in obstetric triage wearing navy scrubs and running shoes. She was a compact woman with a deliberate way of speaking that made even instructions about urine samples sound legally binding.
“You’ve had an eventful evening.”
Claire looked at Daniel. “Does everyone know?”
“The charge nurse recognized you,” Dr. Shah said. “Also, my signature is apparently on television.”
“It isn’t your signature.”
“I’m aware.”
She pulled a stool to the bedside. “The hospital privacy officer is on the way. Before that, I need you to tell me whether you accessed your portal or shared printed records with anyone in the past six months.”
“My attorney has copies. Evan received the first ultrasound summary because Adam listed him as backup medical contact. Margaret saw paperwork at the house after the funeral.”
“Anyone else?”
“Daniel.”
Dr. Shah looked at him.
“With written authorization,” he said.
“Good. We’ll document it.”
Claire shifted against the pillow. “Can you prove the date on that report was changed?”
“The document shown online is not an authenticated hospital record. That is all I can say until compliance reviews the metadata.”
“But your signature—”
“Is wrong. The date format is wrong. The header was retired last year. Whoever made it had access to an old template or an old document.”
Daniel’s phone vibrated. He read the message without changing expression.
“What?” Claire asked.
“Evan has asked to see you.”
“No.”
“He says he has information regarding the forged report.”
“Then he can give it to the police.”
“The police aren’t here yet.”
“Why not?”
“Because the privacy officer has not completed an initial review, and the hotel’s attorneys are still determining which jurisdiction applies to the document creation.”
Claire stared at him. “You sound like one of them.”
“I have spent a great deal of time with lawyers tonight.”
Dr. Shah stood. “Your contractions have stopped. The baby is not in distress. Your blood pressure is coming down. I’m keeping you for observation, but medically, no one comes into this room unless you want them here.”
May you like
“Thank you.”
The doctor paused at the curtain. “For what it’s worth, I have never dotted an i with a heart.”
