Chapter 4: The Woman Who Wasn't Supposed to Call
I stared at the text for a long time.
*Don't trust Rachel.*
I read it again.
Then I set the phone on the table and walked to the window and stood there until the feeling in my chest settled enough to think clearly.
Rachel had left four minutes ago.
She had driven away.
She didn't know my colleague's address — I had given her the cross streets over the phone, not the building number.
I picked the phone back up and called the unknown number.
It rang twice.
"I wasn't sure you'd call back," the woman said.
Her voice was older.
Careful.
Like someone who had rehearsed what they wanted to say and was still deciding whether to say it.
"Who is this?" I asked.
A pause.
"My name is Carol.
I'm Daniel's aunt."
I sat down slowly.
"How did you get this number?"
"Daniel's address book.
The paper one he keeps in his desk.
I still have a key to the house from when I used to watch Lily." Another pause.
"I know that sounds strange.
I know you have no reason to trust me.
But I need you to hear what I'm going to say before you do anything with those documents."
"Why shouldn't I trust Rachel?"
"Because Rachel Holt has done legal work for Evelyn before.
Three years ago.
A property dispute.
I was there when Evelyn mentioned her name." Carol's voice dropped.
"I don't know if that means anything now.
I don't know if she's still connected to them.
But I couldn't let you walk into tomorrow without knowing."
My hand tightened on the phone.
"What do you know about the guardianship document?" I asked.
Silence.
"Carol."
"I knew something was being planned," she said finally.
"I didn't know the details.
About eight months ago, Daniel and Evelyn had a long meeting at the house — just the two of them and a man I didn't recognize.
A lawyer, I think.
When I asked Daniel about it afterward, he told me it was estate planning.
But the way he said it—" She stopped.
"I've known Daniel his whole life.
He was lying."
"Why didn't you say anything?"
"Because I didn't have proof.
Because Evelyn would have cut me off entirely and I would have lost access to Lily too." Her voice cracked slightly at the edges.
"I know that's not enough of a reason.
I've thought about it every day since."
I looked at the envelope on the table.
"Carol, I need to know something.
The two witnesses on the guardianship document — their names are Thomas Greer and Sandra Voss.
Do those names mean anything to you?"
A sharp intake of breath.
"Thomas Greer is Evelyn's accountant," Carol said.
"He's handled her finances for twenty years."
"And Sandra Voss?"
"She's Patricia's closest friend.
They've known each other since college."
I closed my eyes for a moment.
Not strangers.
Not random witnesses pulled in off the street.
People Evelyn had chosen.
People who would say whatever Evelyn needed them to say.
"Carol, I have to ask you something directly and I need you to answer me honestly."
"All right."
"Did Daniel love me?
At any point in this marriage, did he actually love me?
Or was this always the plan?"
The silence that followed was the kind that carries its own answer.
"I think he did," Carol said quietly.
"In the beginning.
But Evelyn never accepted you.
And Daniel has never been able to refuse his mother anything that mattered to her." A pause.
"She decided she wanted Lily.
And once Evelyn decides she wants something, Daniel finds a way to make it happen."
I stood up and walked back to the window.
"I need to find a different attorney," I said.
"Someone with no connection to Evelyn."
"I can give you a name.
A man I trust.
He handled my own divorce fifteen years ago and he's never done work for this family."
"Send it to me."
"I will." Carol hesitated.
"There's one more thing.
The reason I called tonight instead of waiting — Daniel called me an hour ago.
He was asking if I'd heard from you.
He was trying to find out where you were."
My stomach tightened.
"He doesn't know you called me," I said.
"No.
And he can't know.
If Evelyn finds out I've spoken to you, I'll lose whatever small place I still have in that family.
And then I can't help you at all."
"I understand."
"Be careful," Carol said.
"Evelyn is not going to let this go quietly.
She's been planning this for nearly a year.
She's not going to stop because you found one document."
We ended the call.
I stood in the kitchen of my colleague's apartment with the envelope on the table and Lily asleep in the next room and a name I could no longer fully trust and a new ally I had no way to verify.
My phone buzzed.
A contact name from Carol.
An attorney.
James Whitfield.
And underneath it, one more message from Carol: *Check the trust document again.
Look at who controls the assets if Evelyn is ever ruled unfit.
It's not Daniel.*
I pulled the trust document out of the envelope.
I found the clause she meant on page seven.
The name listed as secondary trustee — the person who would control everything if Evelyn could no longer act — was Patricia.
Daniel's sister.
The woman who had spat in my face three hours ago.
This wasn't just about Lily.
May you like
This was about money.
And it had been, from the very beginning.
