Chapter 3
For several seconds, I could only stare at the screen.
The certificate listed my full name, birth date, and Social Security number.
It claimed I had died in a car accident eighteen months earlier.
“That’s impossible,” I said.
Samuel enlarged the document.
“The county seal looks authentic, but the registrar’s signature is wrong. This is a forgery.”
“Why would Olivia declare me dead?”
“To claim your trust as the nearest surviving beneficiary.”
My phone kept vibrating.
Olivia called four more times.
Then Mom called.
I answered.
Daniel?
Her voice was weak, but not weak enough to hide the anger underneath.
“I heard you collapsed.”
“I had chest pain. The doctor says stress may have caused it.”
“I’m sorry you’re sick.”
“You did this to me.”
The familiar guilt arrived automatically.
For one dangerous second, I became the frightened boy who apologized whenever Mom cried.
Then I looked at the forged death certificate.
“Did you know Dad left me a trust?”
Silence.
The hospital sounds behind her disappeared as if she had covered the phone.
“Who told you that?”
“So you did know.”
“Your father made many irrational decisions near the end.”
“Did you change his will?”
“I’m in a hospital bed, and you’re interrogating me?”
“Answer the question.”
She began to cry.
Not loudly.
Mom never wasted tears. She used them carefully.
“I gave up my entire life for you.”
“You hid my mother’s letters.”
Another silence.
Then her voice changed.
“You opened the box.”
It wasn’t a question.
My last hope that the letter might be wrong died in that moment.
“You knew about it.”
“Robert became sentimental when he got sick. He wanted to destroy our family to ease his conscience.”
“You told me Nora abandoned me.”
“She should have.”
“She wrote every year.”
“You were my son.”
“No,” I said. “I was your punishment.”
Mom inhaled sharply.
“Come to the hospital. We can discuss this privately.”
“Is Olivia there?”
“Yes. She’s terrified for me.”
“I’m sure she is.”
I ended the call.
Samuel contacted the trust company and froze all transactions. Then he reported the forged certificate to the county fraud division.
By noon, we were driving to St. Matthew’s.
“I thought you were avoiding them,” Samuel said.
“I was. Now I want answers.”
Mom occupied a private room on the fourth floor.
She was sitting upright when I entered, fully dressed beneath the hospital blanket. Olivia stood beside the window, whispering into her phone.
Neither of them expected Samuel.
Olivia stopped talking.
“What is he doing here?”
Samuel closed the door.
“Preventing further crimes, I hope.”
Mom’s face tightened.
I placed the fake death certificate on her bed.
“Which one of you created this?”
Olivia glanced at the document and recovered too quickly.
“I’ve never seen it.”
“The trust company received it with your signature.”
“Someone framed me.”
“Who?”
“You, probably.”
Samuel almost laughed.
“Mr. Hayes would gain nothing by falsely reporting his own death.”
Olivia crossed her arms.
“This is harassment. My mother nearly had a heart attack because of him.”
Mom placed a hand against her chest.
“I don’t have the strength for this.”
“You had enough strength to steal my inheritance,” I said.
A nurse entered before Mom could respond.
She checked the monitor, frowned, and adjusted the sensor on Mom’s finger.
“Mrs. Hayes, your results are normal. The doctor will discharge you shortly.”
Mom looked offended.
“I’m still feeling pressure.”
“Your cardiac enzymes are negative. Please try to remain calm.”
When the nurse left, Olivia followed her into the hall.
I heard her demand another doctor.
I pulled a chair close to Mom’s bed.
“Where are Nora’s other letters?”
“I don’t know.”
“Dad said you intercepted them.”
“Your father blamed me for everything when he was dying.”
“He signed the original will eight years before his death.”
Her eyes shifted toward Samuel.
That tiny movement told me more than any confession.
“You knew,” I said.
Mom lowered her voice.
“Nora wasn’t fit to raise you.”
“Then why not give me her letters when I became an adult?”
“Because she would have poisoned you against me.”
“You managed that yourself.”
Olivia returned with a security guard.
“There he is,” she said, pointing at me. “He’s threatening a patient.”
The guard approached.
Samuel handed him his business card.
“I am Mr. Hayes’s attorney. We are leaving voluntarily. Before we do, you should know the hospital may receive a subpoena for corridor footage. Ms. Hayes is under investigation for financial fraud.”
Olivia’s face drained of color.
“I am not under investigation.”
“You are now.”
We walked into the hall.
Before the door closed, Mom called my name.
I turned.
For once, she looked genuinely frightened.
“If you find Nora, she will lie to you.”
“About what?”
Mom gripped the blanket.
“About the night your father died.”
Samuel stopped walking.
“What happened that night?” I asked.
Mom said nothing.
Olivia slammed the door.
That afternoon, I opened the oldest letter from Nora.
The first page contained apologies.
The second described how Evelyn had threatened her.
The third included an address in Cedar Falls.
At the bottom, Nora had written one final sentence.
Robert promised to bring you to me when you turned eighteen, but the night before your birthday, he called and said Evelyn had discovered our plan.
Behind the letter was a newspaper clipping.
It reported that Nora Bennett had died in a house fire twelve years ago.
But tucked beneath the clipping was a recent photograph.
Nora stood outside a bookstore.
She was older.
May you like
Alive.
And beside her stood Olivia.
