Chapter 3
Preston sat down like his legs had given out.
My heart began to pound against the monitor stickers on my skin.
“What did you find?” I asked.
Rocco’s eyes stayed on Preston.
“Three weeks ago, Brenda transferred money to a woman named Celia Voss.”
The name meant nothing to me.
But it meant something to Preston.
His face drained.
I saw it.
Rocco saw it.
Gary saw it.
“Who is Celia?” I asked.
Preston rubbed both hands over his face.
“A family attorney.”
Gary gave a cold laugh.
“She lost her license eight years ago.”
My fingers tightened around the hospital blanket.
“For what?”
“Forged medical documents,” Rocco said.
The room tilted.
I looked at Preston.
“Why would your mother pay a woman who forged medical documents?”
He stood too quickly.
“I don’t know.”
“Sit down,” Rocco ordered.
Preston sat.
I had never heard Rocco speak to him like that.
Not as a father.
As a boss.
Gary placed the phone on the tray beside my bed.
A bank transfer glowed on the screen.
Brenda Marcelli to Celia Voss.
$75,000.
Memo line blank.
My throat tightened.
“This was not anger,” I whispered. “This was a plan.”
Rocco nodded.
“Yes.”
Preston looked sick.
“I swear I didn’t know.”
“Then why are you afraid?” I asked.
He stared at me.
I knew my husband.
I knew the tiny movements he made when he lied.
The blink.
The mouth tightening.
The way he looked at exits.
He was doing all of them.
Dr. Porter returned before he could answer.
“The baby is stable,” she said. “But Audrey needs rest and no stress.”
Rocco gave a sharp nod.
“She will have it.”
I almost laughed.
No stress.
My mother-in-law had attacked me.
My husband had frozen.
My father-in-law had brought security to a baby shower.
And somewhere in the shadows was a disgraced woman paid seventy-five thousand dollars.
Dr. Porter checked the chart.
“I also need to ask something privately.”
Everyone looked at her.
“With Audrey alone.”
Rocco left first.
Gary followed.
Preston stayed.
Dr. Porter looked at him.
“Mr. Marcelli.”
His jaw tightened, but he left.
When the door closed, Dr. Porter sat beside me.
“Audrey, did anyone recently suggest that your pregnancy was medically dangerous for the family line?”
I stared at her.
“What?”
“Did anyone ask you to terminate because of a genetic claim?”
My blood went cold.
Two months earlier, Brenda had handed me an envelope.
Inside was a report saying our baby had a severe inherited condition.
She had told me Preston was too broken to talk about it.
She had cried.
She had said the kindest thing would be to end the pregnancy quietly.
I refused.
I went to my own doctor.
The report was fake.
I never told Preston.
I was too afraid of what his mother would do next.
I looked at Dr. Porter.
“Yes,” I whispered.
She closed her eyes for one second.
Then she said, “Audrey, that report may be connected to Celia Voss.”
My hands went numb.
Outside the door, Preston shouted.
May you like
Then Gary’s voice cut through the hallway.
“Rocco, he’s running.”
