Chapter 12 - The Woman They Tried to Invent
By evening, strangers online had turned Grace into a character.
Gold digger.
Kidnapper.
Unstable nanny.
Secret mistress.
She stopped reading.
At her aunt's Vermont farmhouse, Lily played with blocks while attorneys prepared for the emergency custody hearing.
Victoria's evidence included five addresses, temporary work names, unpaid bills, and a psychological evaluation calling Grace paranoid.
Grace stared at the report.
"I've never met this doctor."
Attorney Maya Chen checked the signature.
Dr. Stephen Halpern.
Eleanor recognized it.
"Edward used him."
"For what?" Nathan asked.
"To certify people as unstable when he needed leverage."
Maya tracked Halpern to Arizona.
At first he denied everything.
Then she showed him Edward's files.
"I never examined Grace Bennett," he admitted.
"Did you sign the report?"
"Yes."
"Will you testify?"
"No."
Nathan leaned toward the speaker.
"That document may remove a four-year-old from her mother tomorrow. My father is dead. You are not protecting him anymore. You're protecting yourself."
Long silence.
"I'll testify."
Hope flickered across Grace's face.
Then Elias entered carrying a tablet.
A video had gone viral.
Security footage showed Grace entering Nathan's bedroom at 2:13 a.m. six weeks earlier and leaving twelve minutes later.
The caption claimed they were having an affair.
Grace stared.
"That never happened."
Nathan watched the clip twice.
The woman wore Grace's coat.
Used her staff badge.
But walked differently.
Elias pulled a forgotten hallway frame.
The woman turned toward the camera.
Victoria.
In her hand was a small glass vial.
Grace looked at Nathan.
"Why would she go into your room dressed like me?"
Nathan remembered waking that morning with a splitting headache and no memory of falling asleep.
His face changed.
"She wasn't trying to prove an affair."
May you like
He looked at the vial.
"She was trying to manufacture one."
