Chapter 7
The answer arrived in a place I never expected.
My own office.
Three weeks after the party, I returned to work for a brief meeting with my business partner, Marcus Reed.
I owned a construction company.
For years, I had worked long hours building it from a small contracting business into a successful firm.
Lucinda often complained about my schedule.
She said I cared more about work than her.
But she also loved the lifestyle my work provided.
The expensive restaurants.
The designer clothes.
The luxury vacations.
I had never questioned whether she loved me or the life I could give her.
Until now.
Marcus Reed sat across from me in the conference room.
He looked uncomfortable.
"Daniel, I need to show you something."
I frowned.
"What?"
He opened his laptop.
"Lucinda contacted our accountant last month."
My stomach tightened.
"About what?"
"Your estate planning."
I stared at him.
"Why?"
Marcus hesitated.
"She claimed you were worried about Ruby's future."
I leaned forward.
"What did she ask?"
"Whether your assets would automatically transfer to Ruby if something happened to you."
I felt cold.
"And?"
"Our accountant told her that wasn't information he could share."
Marcus turned the laptop toward me.
"Then she sent this."
It was an email.
From Lucinda.
She asked whether a future spouse could become trustee of assets intended for a minor child.
My hands began shaking.
"What?"
Marcus nodded grimly.
"She asked about guardianship too."
I stared at the screen.
The email mentioned residential schooling.
Long-term care arrangements.
And a proposed trust structure.
My heart pounded.
"She wanted control of Ruby's inheritance."
Marcus looked at me.
"That's what it appears she was exploring."
I sat back.
For several seconds, I couldn't speak.
Then I remembered something.
Two months earlier, Lucinda had encouraged me to update my will.
She said it was important before marriage.
At the time, I agreed.
It seemed responsible.
But then she insisted that I choose her as Ruby's guardian if anything happened to me.
I told her I wanted Denise in that role.
Lucinda became furious.
She accused me of not trusting her.
I thought it was an argument about family.
Now I wondered whether it was about money.
I looked at Marcus.
"Did she ask anything else?"
He hesitated.
"Yes."
My stomach tightened.
"What?"
"She asked whether a child's medical needs could justify placement in a residential program."
I closed my eyes.
There it was.
The connection.
The injured leg.
The canceled therapy.
The accusation that Ruby was pretending.
The attempted school enrollment.
Lucinda had been building a story about my daughter.
One that portrayed Ruby as difficult.
Medically complicated.
Emotionally unstable.
A child who supposedly needed to be sent away.
And if Lucinda married me, she might have tried to gain control of decisions concerning Ruby's care and finances.
I felt sick.
"She was trying to remove my daughter from my life."
Marcus Reed looked at me.
"I can't say what her intent was."
I nodded.
He was right.
Intent needed evidence.
But the pattern was becoming impossible to ignore.
I called attorney Marcus Hill.
He asked me to preserve the email and arrange for the accountant to speak with investigators.
I agreed.
Then I sat alone in my office.
I stared at a photograph on my desk.
Naomi holding newborn Ruby.
I remembered the night our daughter was born.
Naomi was exhausted.
Her hair was damp.
Her eyes were full of tears.
She held Ruby against her chest and whispered:
"Promise me you'll always protect her."
I had laughed softly.
"Of course."
She looked at me seriously.
"Even when she's stubborn."
I smiled.
"Especially then."
Naomi died three years later.
And every day since, I had tried to honor that promise.
Now I felt like I had failed.
I picked up the photograph.
"I'm sorry," I whispered.
Then my phone rang.
It was Denise.
"Daniel?"
Her voice sounded frightened.
I sat upright.
"What happened?"
"Ruby had a nightmare."
My heart tightened.
"Is she okay?"
"She's awake now."
I stood immediately.
"I'm coming."
Denise continued.
"She kept saying Lucinda was going to take her away."
I closed my eyes.
"Tell her Daddy's coming."
I grabbed my keys and left.
When I arrived, Ruby was sitting on the couch beneath a blanket.
Her eyes were red.
She clutched her stuffed rabbit.
I knelt beside her.
"Hey, princess."
She threw her arms around me.
"Daddy!"
I held her gently.
"I'm here."
She began crying.
"I dreamed Lucinda came back."
My throat tightened.
"What happened in the dream?"
Ruby whispered:
"She put me in a car."
I froze.
"Where did she take you?"
Ruby shook her head.
"I don't know."
She cried harder.
"She said you didn't want me anymore."
I hugged her.
"That's not true."
Ruby looked up.
"Promise?"
I took her face between my hands.
"Ruby, listen to me."
She stared at me.
"I will always want you."
Her lips trembled.
"Even if I can't walk fast?"
"Yes."
"Even if I need help?"
"Yes."
"Even if I cry?"
I smiled through tears.
"Always."
She buried her face against my chest.
I held her until she calmed down.
Then she whispered:
"Daddy, can I tell you something?"
"Anything."
She looked toward Denise.
Then back at me.
"Lucinda made me practice."
I frowned.
"Practice what?"
Ruby swallowed.
"Saying I wanted to go away."
My heart stopped.
"What?"
She looked frightened.
"She told me to say I didn't like living here."
I felt my blood turn cold.
Ruby continued.
"She said if I said it right, she would stop being mad."
I stared at my daughter.
Then I remembered the residential school application.
The forged email.
The medical claims.
Lucinda had been trying to create the appearance that Ruby wanted to leave.
I held my daughter close.
"Baby, you never have to say something that isn't true just to make an adult happy."
Ruby nodded.
"I didn't want to go."
I kissed her forehead.
"I know."
Then she whispered:
"She said there was going to be a lady who asked questions."
My heart pounded.
"What lady?"
Ruby shook her head.
"I don't know."
I looked at Denise.
Her face had gone pale.
Because we both understood what Ruby was describing.
Lucinda hadn't simply planned to send her away.
May you like
She had been preparing her for an interview.
And whoever that woman was, I needed to find out whether she had already been contacted.
