Chapter 6 - The Dead Woman’s Marriage Certificate
The certificate was fake.
That should have made me feel better.
It did not.
Because somebody had done enough research to choose a dead woman Gabriel actually knew.
We met Detective Alvarez at the hospital the next morning. He had already contacted Nevada vital records.
“No marriage exists under that license number,” he said. “The number belongs to a different couple.”
Gabriel exhaled.
Alvarez continued.
“But the document was professionally assembled. Whoever created it had access to personal information.”
“Foundation files,” I said.
“Maybe.”
Gabriel looked exhausted.
“Why Laura?”
“Tell me about her.”
Gabriel leaned back.
“We were in foster care together for three years. Not legally related. She was older. Protected me when things got bad.”
“How did she die?”
“Car accident.”
“Any connection to the Harts?”
“No.”
I thought of my mother’s habit of knowing everything about everyone.
“Did Mom ever ask about your childhood?”
“Constantly.”
Of course.
Alvarez took the document.
“This supports a pattern of fabrication. Keep everything.”
When we returned to Gemma’s room, she was awake.
The first thing she said was, “You both look terrible.”
I laughed.
Gabriel kissed her carefully.
“You look beautiful.”
“I look like hospital mashed potatoes.”
“Beautiful mashed potatoes.”
She smiled.
Then she noticed my face.
“What happened?”
I hesitated.
Gemma frowned.
“Do not do the thing.”
“What thing?”
“The thing where everyone decides I am too tired for information.”
Gabriel sat down.
“She knows us.”
So we told her.
The petition.
The altered evaluation.
The foundation trust.
The anonymous messages.
The fake marriage certificate.
Gemma listened without interrupting.
When we finished, she said, “Mom is panicking.”
I stared.
“You’re not surprised?”
“I am surprised she used Laura.”
Gabriel blinked.
“You know about Laura?”
“You told me.”
“I tell you everything.”
“Yes.”
That simple exchange made me look away.
Gemma turned to me.
“Becca.”
“What?”
“You still think he married me because he wanted to stay close to you?”
Heat rushed into my face.
Gabriel looked startled.
“How did you—”
“She told me,” Gemma said.
“I did not.”
“You did with your face when I got engaged.”
I groaned.
“Gemma.”
She smiled.
Then her smile faded.
“I knew people would think that.”
My chest hurt.
“I’m sorry.”
“You thought it for five minutes. Mom thought it for five years.”
Gabriel took her hand.
Gemma looked at him.
“Tell her the real reason.”
He hesitated.
“I already did.”
“No. The other reason.”
I stared.
Gabriel sighed.
“The wedding date.”
Gemma nodded.
He looked at me.
“We planned to marry in October.”
“You married in June.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Gemma answered.
“Because I was pregnant.”
I blinked.
“You were?”
“Very early.”
“But you announced at the wedding.”
“That was a different pregnancy.”
The room went quiet.
My mouth opened.
Gemma’s eyes filled.
“I lost the first baby.”
I moved closer.
“Oh, Gem.”
She held up a hand.
“I’m okay talking about it.”
Gabriel stared at the blanket.
She continued.
“When I went to the emergency room, Mom came. She heard a doctor explain the miscarriage. Then she told me maybe it was proof I shouldn’t have children.”
I felt something cold settle in my body.
“She said that?”
“Yes.”
Gabriel’s jaw tightened.
“That night Gemma asked me if I still wanted to marry her.”
“I said, ‘Do you still want to marry me?’” Gemma corrected.
He smiled sadly.
“She did.”
Gemma looked at me.
“We moved the wedding because I was tired of waiting for my family to agree I was an adult.”
That was the real reason.
Not money.
Not pity.
Not a secret love for me.
Gemma married because she wanted a life no one could postpone.
Gabriel married because he loved her enough to say yes when she chose it.
I cried.
Gemma rolled her eyes.
“Everybody cries too much in this family.”
Then the nurse brought photographs of the twins.
Gemma held them like sacred things.
“Which one is which?”
Gabriel pointed.
“Girl on the left. Boy on the right.”
Gemma studied them.
“June.”
I smiled.
“For Grandma Eleanor?”
“She hated her middle name, June.”
“So naturally.”
“And him?”
Gemma looked at Gabriel.
“Theo.”
His face softened.
“Theo.”
They had names now.
That made the fight feel even more real.
Later, Nadia joined us.
She had news.
“The emergency guardianship petition has been flagged because Rebecca disputes it and because of concerns about document authenticity. No temporary guardian has been appointed.”
Gemma exhaled.
“Good.”
“But your parents have retained separate counsel and may pursue a new petition.”
“Let them,” Gemma said.
Nadia nodded.
“I also want to discuss discharge planning. Not because I question your parenting, but because twins born at thirty-four weeks may need extra support.”
“Okay.”
“What support do you want?”
Gemma thought.
“My sister three mornings a week if she says yes.”
I said, “Yes.”
“Gabriel’s mom on Thursdays.”
Gabriel nodded.
“A visiting nurse if insurance pays.”
Nadia smiled.
“That is exactly the kind of planning we discuss with any parent in your situation.”
Gemma looked at me.
“See?”
I swallowed.
“I see.”
Then Dad entered.
He had been crying.
“Gemma.”
She turned her face away.
He stopped.
“I deserve that.”
No one rescued him.
He stood there for a moment.
Then he placed an envelope on the table.
“What is it?” I asked.
“The trust ledger.”
Gemma looked back.
Dad’s voice cracked.
“I kept copies.”
“Why?”
“Because I knew your mother was wrong.”
Gemma’s eyes hardened.
“Then why did you let her do it?”
He nodded.
“That is the question I’ll answer for the rest of my life.”
He pushed the envelope toward her.
“I also resigned from the foundation board this morning.”
I stared.
Mom would see that as betrayal.
Gemma did not thank him.
She opened the envelope.
The ledger showed missing transfers totaling $4.8 million.
But one line near the bottom made Dad go pale.
A transfer of $600,000 had been authorized six years earlier.
Recipient: Reed Family Services LLC.
Gabriel stared.
“I don’t own that company.”
May you like
I looked at him.
Dad whispered, “Then somebody wanted it to look like you did.”
