Chapter 10 - The Insurance Policy
The account wasn’t a bank account.
It was an insurance policy.
A $750,000 life-insurance policy.
On me.
I laughed once.
It came out wrong.
“I already have life insurance through work.”
“This is separate,” Marcus said.
“Who bought it?”
“Evan.”
“He can insure his spouse.”
“Yes.”
“Then what’s illegal?”
“Potentially nothing.”
That word bothered me.
Potentially.
Marcus rotated the screen.
“The application states you participated in the process.”
“I didn’t.”
“It includes electronic consent.”
“I never gave it.”
“Your medical information is also included.”
My mouth went dry.
“What information?”
Height.
Weight.
Prescription history.
Previous bloodwork.
My primary doctor’s name.
Details from my last physical.
Someone had access to information I had never shared with Diane.
Then I remembered Evan taking photographs of forms at the doctor’s office because he said he was organizing our insurance files.
“Beneficiary?” I asked.
Marcus hesitated.
“Evan.”
That was expected.
“Secondary beneficiary?”
“Bennett Holdings.”
Laura immediately leaned forward.
“A business entity?”
“Yes.”
“Can that be done?”
“Depending on ownership structure and insurable interest, things get complicated.”
He tapped the date.
“The bigger question is why the policy was increased three months ago.”
“Increased?”
“It started at $250,000.”
“Then someone amended it.”
“To $750,000.”
I felt cold.
Laura noticed.
“We are not jumping to conclusions.”
“I know.”
“Insurance policies by themselves do not mean someone intended physical harm.”
“I know.”
But my mind had already gone somewhere dark.
Not because Evan had ever physically hurt me.
He hadn’t.
His weapon had always been silence.
Excuses.
Financial secrecy.
Letting Diane cut me down while he stared at his plate.
Still, seeing three quarters of a million dollars attached to my death changed the temperature in the room.
Marcus kept reviewing the application.
Then he pointed toward another signature.
“Who is Dr. Leonard Price?”
I frowned.
“Diane’s doctor.”
Laura looked at me.
“Does he treat you?”
“No.”
“Has he ever treated you?”
“Never.”
His name appeared beside a medical certification.
Marcus sat back.
“That needs to be verified.”
My phone buzzed.
Evan.
For the first time since the banquet, I answered.
Laura immediately put the call on speaker and began recording her notes.
Evan sounded exhausted.
“Claire.”
“What do you want?”
“I want to fix this.”
“You filed for custody before your mother hit our daughter.”
Silence.
“That wasn’t what happened.”
“I have your messages.”
Longer silence.
“What messages?”
“Enough.”
He lowered his voice.
“My mother pushed things too far.”
“She slapped Mia.”
“I know.”
“You watched.”
“I froze.”
“No.”
I looked at the cached messages on Mia’s tablet.
“You waited.”
Evan breathed heavily.
“Claire, my mom told me if we didn’t get control of the situation, everything was going to collapse.”
“What situation?”
He didn’t answer.
“The banquet hall?”
Still nothing.
“The forged loan?”
His breathing changed.
Then I asked the question I hadn’t planned to ask.
“Why did you insure my life for seven hundred fifty thousand dollars?”
The call went completely silent.
Then Evan whispered, “How the hell did you find that?”
May you like
And that answer frightened me more than any denial could have.
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