Chapter 4 - THE PAPER I NEVER READ
It wasn’t an insurance form.
It was a power of attorney.
Broad.
Durable.
And horrifyingly detailed.
The document gave Jason authority to act on my behalf regarding financial accounts, taxes, property, and debt.
My signature was real.
I had signed it twenty hours after giving birth.
I remembered exactly how exhausted I had been.
I had barely slept.
My body hurt.
Lily wouldn’t latch.
I was crying every hour.
Jason had walked into the hospital room with papers.
“Just insurance stuff,” he had said.
I signed without reading.
Caroline stared at the document.
“This doesn’t excuse fraud.”
“But he had legal authority?”
“Not to steal your identity for his own benefit.”
I looked at the signature.
Mine.
The date.
The hospital.
I felt stupid.
Caroline noticed.
“Don’t waste energy blaming yourself.”
“I signed it.”
“You trusted your husband.”
“I trusted the wrong person.”
“Yes.”
Her honesty hurt.
But I preferred it.
She turned the page.
“There’s more.”
Attached was a notarization.
Witness: Robert Bennett.
My skin prickled.
“His uncle.”
“Yes.”
“But Robert wasn’t at the hospital.”
“Are you sure?”
“Absolutely.”
Caroline tapped the signature.
“Then we may have fraudulent notarization.”
The door opened.
Her investigator, Marcus, walked in holding a folder.
“I found the notary.”
Caroline looked up.
“Alive?”
“Yes.”
“Cooperative?”
“Terrified.”
Marcus sat down.
“Her name is Melissa Grant.”
I didn’t know her.
“She worked for Robert’s company at the time.”
Of course.
Marcus continued.
“She claims Robert asked her to stamp documents that had already been signed.”
Caroline’s expression sharpened.
“Did she see Emily sign?”
“No.”
“Did she know what the document was?”
“She says no.”
Caroline leaned back.
“This family is sloppy.”
Marcus shook his head.
“No.”
He looked at me.
“They’re comfortable.”
“What’s the difference?”
“Sloppy people make mistakes because they don’t know better.”
He tapped the folder.
“Comfortable people make mistakes because they think nobody will challenge them.”
That sentence stayed with me.
The Bennetts had been comfortable for years.
Diane insulted me because Jason never stopped her.
Brooke humiliated me because nobody held her accountable.
Robert crossed boundaries because everyone called him successful.
Jason lied because I kept forgiving him.
Comfortable.
My phone rang.
Rachel.
I answered.
“Emily.”
Her voice sounded wrong.
“What happened?”
“There’s a man downstairs.”
“What man?”
“He says he’s from Child Protective Services.”
I stood up.
“What?”
“He’s asking about Lily.”
Caroline was already on her feet.
“Do not let anyone inside,” she said.
I repeated it.
Rachel whispered, “He says there was a report that you assaulted your daughter.”
My blood went cold.
“What?”
“He says the report claims you hit Lily at Diane’s birthday.”
I looked at Caroline.
She held out her hand for the phone.
“This is Caroline Shaw, Emily’s attorney.”
Rachel put the call on speaker.
Caroline asked, “Did the investigator show identification?”
“Yes.”
“Agency ID?”
“Yes.”
“Do not refuse contact.”
She looked at me.
“We handle this carefully.”
Thirty minutes later, I returned to Rachel’s apartment.
The investigator was real.
His name was Daniel Ruiz.
He was polite.
Calm.
And skeptical of almost everyone.
“I received two separate reports,” he said.
“Two?”
“One states that Diane Bennett struck Lily.”
I nodded.
“The second claims you struck Lily and then assaulted your husband and mother-in-law.”
I stared at him.
“Who made that report?”
“I can’t disclose that.”
Caroline said, “You’ve seen the medical record?”
“Yes.”
“And the video?”
“What video?”
I pulled out my phone.
I played it.
He watched silently.
Diane’s slap.
Lily’s scream.
Jason’s comment.
When it ended, Ruiz looked at me.
“Can you send this to me?”
“Yes.”
Then he asked, “Do you have somewhere safe to stay?”
“Yes.”
“Does Jason know where?”
I hesitated.
Rachel and I looked at each other.
Then someone knocked on the apartment door.
Three hard knocks.
Rachel walked to the peephole.
Her face went white.
“Emily.”
“What?”
“It’s Jason.”
Ruiz stood.
Caroline turned toward the door.
Jason knocked again.
“Emily!”
May you like
Then his voice changed.
“I know you’re in there.”
