Chapter 5: The Woman Who Signed Him Away
Emma drove home so fast that she barely remembered the journey.
Her hands gripped the steering wheel. The hospital photograph lay on the passenger seat, beside the letter her father had written eleven years earlier.
Margaret Carter was standing in the kitchen when Emma entered.
She was washing a coffee cup.
"Mom.""
Margaret turned.
"You're back early.""
"Did you go to Ravenhurst this morning?""
The cup slipped slightly in Margaret's hands.
"What?""
"Did you sign my father out of the facility?""
Margaret slowly placed the cup on the counter.
"Where did you hear that?""
"Answer me.""
"I haven't been to Ravenhurst in years.""
"Then explain why your signature is on their discharge form.""
Margaret looked genuinely confused.
Emma pulled out her phone and showed her the photograph of the document Marcus had sent.
Her mother stared at it.
Then she shook her head.
"That's not my signature.""
"Are you sure?""
"Of course I'm sure!""
Emma studied the paper.
The signature was almost identical to Margaret's.
But there was something different about the final letter.
Her mother's handwriting always ended with a sharp downward stroke.
This signature curved upward.
"Someone forged it," Emma said.
Margaret sat down.
"Then someone knows about your father.""
"Yes.""
"Who?""
Emma hesitated.
"Vanessa.""
Margaret's expression changed.
"Adrian's former fiancée?""
"She entered his private archive last night.""
Margaret stood abruptly.
"Emma, you need to leave that family alone.""
"Why?""
"Because they destroyed your father.""
"And apparently they're still trying to.""
Margaret grabbed her daughter's arm.
"Listen to me. I made a mistake eleven years ago. I should have told you everything. But I will not let you make the same mistake.""
Emma gently pulled away.
"Then tell me the truth.""
Margaret looked at her.
For several seconds, she seemed to struggle with something.
Finally, she walked toward the bedroom.
When she returned, she was carrying a small velvet box.
She placed it on the table.
Inside was a gold wristwatch with a cracked glass face.
Emma recognized it immediately.
Her father had worn it every day.
"Where did you get this?""
Margaret sat down.
"Victor brought it to me.""
Emma felt her chest tighten.
"When?""
"Two days after the accident.""
"What did he say?""
"That Daniel had stolen company documents. He said your father had been involved in something dangerous and that the police were investigating.""
"Did he tell you Dad was alive?""
"No.""
"Then why did you keep his watch?""
"Because I knew something wasn't right.""
Margaret turned the watch over.
A small number had been engraved inside the metal casing.
214.
Emma stared.
The storage locker.
"Did Dad put this there?""
Margaret nodded.
"He gave it to me before he disappeared. He said if I ever needed to find the truth, I should look inside.""
Emma picked up the watch.
"Why didn't you tell me?""
"Because Victor said the watch contained information that could destroy people. He threatened to have you taken away if I ever opened it.""
Emma's voice dropped.
"Did you open it?""
Margaret shook her head.
"Not once.""
Emma examined the casing.
There was a tiny indentation near the strap.
She pressed it.
A small compartment opened.
Inside was a folded piece of paper and a miniature memory card.
Emma unfolded the paper.
It contained a single sentence.
If Adrian ever learns the truth, tell him to look for the second driver.
She stared at the words.
"The second driver?""
Margaret nodded slowly.
"Your father mentioned someone else.""
"Who?""
"He said the car had not been driven by Victor alone.""
Emma looked up.
"Who else was there?""
"I don't know.""
A sudden knock sounded at the apartment door.
Both women froze.
Emma moved toward the hallway.
"Who is it?""
"Delivery.""
She looked through the peephole.
A uniformed courier stood outside holding a large envelope.
Emma opened the door but kept the chain in place.
"Yes?""
"Package for Emma Carter.""
She reached through the opening and accepted it.
The courier walked away.
Inside the envelope was a USB drive.
No note.
No sender.
Emma looked at her mother.
"Someone wants us to see something.""
At the Blackwood estate, Adrian was arguing with Marcus.
"You're telling me Vanessa accessed the archive, removed documents, and left the building without being stopped?""
Marcus stood with his hands clasped behind his back.
"She used a visitor pass issued by your legal department.""
"Who approved it?""
"Your sister.""
Adrian's jaw tightened.
"Clara?""
"Yes.""
"Get her on the phone.""
Marcus made the call.
A minute later, Clara Blackwood appeared on the video screen.
She was wearing a white blouse and sitting in her office.
"Adrian, what is this about?""
"Why did you give Vanessa access to the archive?""
Clara sighed.
"She said she was collecting personal documents.""
"She was in a restricted room.""
"She told me you had approved it.""
"I didn't.""
Clara looked uncomfortable.
"Then I suppose she lied.""
"Did you see what she took?""
"No.""
"Clara.""
She leaned forward.
"Adrian, I'm not responsible for every stupid thing Vanessa does.""
"You gave her access to confidential records.""
"I gave your former fiancée permission to collect her belongings.""
"She was never entitled to anything in that archive.""
Clara folded her arms.
"Maybe if you stopped treating everyone like suspects, someone would actually want to help you.""
Adrian's expression darkened.
"End the call.""
The screen went black.
Marcus waited.
"Sir?""
"Find out which documents disappeared.""
Marcus nodded.
Adrian turned toward the desk.
There was another problem.
The hospital records he had recovered from his father's safe deposit box were incomplete. Several pages had been removed.
One page, however, contained a name.
*Dr. Samuel Whitmore.*
The physician who had allegedly received Daniel Carter at Ravenhurst.
Adrian picked up the telephone.
"Get me Whitmore.""
Marcus shook his head.
"Sir, Dr. Whitmore died six years ago.""
Adrian put the receiver down.
"Then find his family.""
Emma inserted the USB drive into her laptop.
A single video file appeared.
The recording was grainy, apparently taken from an old security camera.
The date stamp read:
*NOVEMBER 14 — ELEVEN YEARS EARLIER.*
The location was a private hospital corridor.
Emma leaned closer.
A nurse pushed a wheelchair through the frame.
A man sat in it.
His head was turned toward the window, but she could recognize the shape of his shoulders.
Her father.
Margaret covered her mouth.
"Oh, Daniel.""
The nurse stopped outside a room.
A man entered the frame.
Victor Hale.
He spoke to the nurse, handed her a document, and pointed toward the elevator.
The nurse nodded.
Then Victor approached the wheelchair.
He leaned close to Daniel's ear.
Although the recording had no sound, Emma could see her father's expression change.
Fear.
Victor grabbed the wheelchair handles and pushed it toward the elevator.
The recording ended.
Emma sat motionless.
"He was alive.""
Margaret nodded through her tears.
"Yes.""
The video had been recorded eleven years earlier.
Three days after the supposed warehouse fire.
Emma rewound it.
This time, she noticed something behind Victor.
A second man stood near the hospital reception desk.
Tall.
Dark-haired.
Wearing a black suit.
Adrian Blackwood.
Emma paused the image.
His face was unmistakable.
He was watching Victor take her father away.
She called Adrian immediately.
He answered on the first ring.
"Emma?""
"I have a video.""
"What kind?""
"One that shows my father alive in a hospital eleven years ago.""
Adrian went silent.
"Where?""
"St. Mary's.""
"Send it to me.""
"There's something else.""
"What?""
"You were there.""
His breathing changed.
"Emma, listen—"
"You watched Victor take my father away.""
"I didn't know what he was doing.""
"You were standing five feet away!""
"I was twenty-four. My father had threatened to destroy me if I interfered.""
Emma stared at the frozen image.
"Then why didn't you tell me you saw him?""
"Because I thought Daniel was being transferred.""
"To where?""
"I was told he was going somewhere safe.""
"And you believed that?""
Adrian said nothing.
Emma closed her eyes.
"You're not the man I thought you were.""
"I know.""
"No, Adrian. You don't. You let me sit beside you for months, telling you stories about my father, while you knew there was a chance he was still alive.""
"I didn't know he was alive.""
"But you knew he disappeared.""
"Yes.""
Emma ended the call.
Twenty minutes later, someone knocked on her apartment door.
Margaret opened it.
Adrian stood outside.
He wasn't alone.
Marcus was beside him, carrying a briefcase.
"Is Emma here?"" Adrian asked.
Margaret stepped aside.
Emma appeared in the hallway.
"You shouldn't be here.""
"I know.""
"Then leave.""
Adrian held out a document.
"I found the original transfer authorization.""
Emma didn't move.
He placed it on the table.
"This is the form Victor used to move your father from St. Mary's.""
She glanced at it.
The signature at the bottom was not Richard Blackwood's.
It belonged to Adrian.
Emma stared at him.
"What is this?""
Adrian's face was pale.
"I signed it.""
Margaret gasped.
Adrian continued.
"My father told me it was a temporary transfer. He said Daniel needed protection from people looking for him.""
"You signed away my father.""
"I didn't know what the transfer meant.""
"You didn't ask?""
"I did. He told me Daniel had agreed.""
Emma picked up the document.
A date appeared beside the signature.
November 14.
The same date as the hospital video.
"You were there," she whispered.
"Yes.""
"You signed it while he was sitting in that wheelchair.""
Adrian nodded.
Emma placed the paper down.
"Get out.""
"Emma, please.""
"Get out!""
Adrian turned toward the door.
Then Marcus's phone rang.
He answered.
Listened.
And slowly looked toward Adrian.
"What is it?"" Adrian asked.
Marcus lowered the phone.
"Sir, Ravenhurst has located the original patient file.""
"Where?""
"An abandoned medical records facility.""
"Then retrieve it.""
Marcus swallowed.
"There's a problem.""
"What?""
"The person who requested the file yesterday wasn't Vanessa.""
Adrian frowned.
"Who was it?""
Marcus looked at Emma.
"Margaret Carter.""
Emma turned toward her mother.
Margaret's face had gone completely white.
May you like
And then she whispered:
"I was trying to save him.""
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