Chapter 5 - THE PERSON I NEVER SUSPECTED
The video was only six minutes long.
But it changed everything.
Ethan stood in the parking garage.
He was wearing the same gray jacket he had worn the night of my accident.
The person waiting for him was my former financial adviser.
Martin Hayes.
I had trusted Martin for nearly eight years.
He had helped manage our investments.
He had handled our insurance policies.
He had advised me during the divorce.
He had even told me that Ethan was “under enormous emotional pressure.”
Now I watched the video.
Ethan handed Martin an envelope.
Martin counted the money.
Then Ethan said:
“After the accident, the policy pays out.”
I stopped the video.
My stomach turned.
The detective sitting across from me looked serious.
“Do you recognize them?”
“Yes.”
“Do you recognize the conversation?”
I nodded.
“What happens after the accident?”
I told him.
Martin had come to the hospital.
He had told me not to worry about finances.
He had encouraged me to sign documents while I was still medicated.
I had not noticed anything strange.
At the time, I was focused on surviving.
The detective leaned forward.
“Did you know your life insurance policy had been changed?”
I stared at him.
“No.”
He slid a document across the table.
The beneficiary had been changed.
Ethan was listed as the sole beneficiary.
The change had occurred two weeks before my accident.
I felt sick.
“Who authorized this?”
“Your signature appears on the form.”
I stared at it.
The signature looked like mine.
But it was not.
I had never signed it.
The detective nodded.
“We believe it was forged.”
I sat back.
The room seemed to spin.
The affair had been cruel.
The divorce had been cruel.
The wedding speech had been humiliating.
But this was something else.
Ethan had not simply wanted to leave me.
He had wanted my money.
And someone had helped him.
Martin.
The person I trusted.
The person who had told me I was lucky to survive.
I left the police station and called Daniel.
Daniel had been my attorney during the divorce.
He was also the first person who had warned me not to trust Ethan’s settlement.
“Camila,” he said.
“I need you to look into Martin Hayes.”
There was a pause.
“Why?”
“I think he forged my life insurance documents.”
Another pause.
“Are you serious?”
“I just saw the evidence.”
“Send it to me.”
I did.
Two hours later, he called.
“Camila.”
“What?”
“There’s more.”
My hands tightened around the phone.
“What?”
“Martin was paid by Ethan.”
“How much?”
“Twenty-five thousand dollars.”
“When?”
“Three days before your accident.”
I closed my eyes.
“Is that all?”
“No.”
He sent me another file.
I opened it.
There were more payments.
From Ethan.
To Martin.
Over a period of eighteen months.
The payments had begun before the accident.
Before the divorce.
Before Lila.
I stared at the screen.
“What was he paying him for?”
Daniel was quiet.
“I’m still investigating.”
Then he sent another message.
Look at the last payment.
I opened it.
The payment had been made one week before the wedding.
The amount was fifty thousand dollars.
The description read:
Final arrangement.
My blood ran cold.
I called Daniel back.
“What arrangement?”
“I don’t know yet.”
“Find out.”
“I will.”
That evening, I sat with Noah.
He was building a model airplane.
I watched him carefully.
“Mom?”
“Yes?”
“Are you mad at me?”
My heart broke.
“No.”
“Because of the wedding?”
“No.”
“I didn’t know Dad would scream.”
I hugged him.
“You didn’t do anything wrong.”
“I found the box.”
“You found something your father hid.”
He looked at me.
“Why did he hide it?”
I struggled to answer.
“Because he didn’t want anyone to know the truth.”
Noah considered that.
“Then I think he shouldn’t have lied.”
I smiled sadly.
“I agree.”
The next morning, Daniel called.
“We found the final arrangement.”
I sat up.
“What is it?”
“It was a payment to someone named Rebecca Lane.”
I frowned.
“Who is that?”
Daniel hesitated.
“She was the event coordinator for your wedding.”
My blood went cold.
“My wedding?”
“Yes.”
“Why would Ethan pay her?”
“I don’t know.”
Then Daniel sent me a photograph.
Rebecca Lane standing beside Ethan.
The date was three days before my accident.
I stared at the image.
Then I remembered something.
The night of the accident, I had received a phone call.
A woman had told me there was an emergency at the wedding venue.
A problem involving Ethan.
I had driven there.
And on the way…
I had crashed.
I had never known who made that call.
Until now.
The phone number had been blocked.
But the police had recovered the records.
The call had come from Rebecca Lane.
I stared at Daniel’s message.
Then I whispered:
“Ethan didn’t just abandon me.”
May you like
He had planned something.
And someone had helped him.
