Chapter 4 - EMILY’S MOTHER’S NAME
Emily woke after midnight.
The room was dark except for the fetal monitor beside her bed.
The steady rhythm of her baby’s heartbeat filled the silence.
She pressed one hand against her stomach.
“Stay with me.”
The baby moved.
Emily’s eyes filled.
She did not let the tears fall until the door opened.
Raymond stepped inside.
For a moment, neither of them spoke.
Then he sat beside her.
“You scared me.”
Emily gave a tired smile.
“I scared myself.”
“The doctor says both of you are stable.”
“I know.”
Raymond looked toward the monitor.
“He has your stubbornness.”
“He?”
Raymond blinked.
Emily smiled weakly.
“I never told you.”
Raymond’s face softened.
“No.”
“A boy.”
For the first time that evening, Raymond looked genuinely happy.
Then Emily’s expression changed.
“Why did you never tell Preston the truth?”
Raymond understood immediately.
“About the hospital?”
She nodded.
“You asked me not to.”
“I asked you not to embarrass him.”
“You asked me to let your marriage breathe without your inheritance inside it.”
Emily looked away.
“I thought if he believed I was ordinary, then whatever he loved about me would be real.”
Raymond was silent.
Emily laughed once.
There was no humor in it.
“That worked beautifully.”
“Emily.”
“He used my mother’s name.”
Raymond looked toward her.
“At galas.”
Her voice trembled.
“He stood beneath her name and called this his family’s hospital.”
“I know.”
“And you let him.”
“I let you decide when your story became public.”
Emily closed her eyes.
“He kicked me out of board dinners because he said I didn’t understand medicine.”
Raymond’s jaw tightened.
“He told me his father only tolerated me because I looked respectable beside him.”
“Emily.”
“He moved Vanessa into an apartment three blocks from our house.”
Raymond went still.
Emily looked at him.
“I knew.”
“How long?”
“Six months.”
“Why didn’t you call me?”
“Because I wanted to know how far he would go.”
Raymond leaned back.
“And now you know.”
Emily stared at the monitor.
“No.”
She shook her head.
“Now I know how far he went.”
She looked at her uncle.
“I still don’t know why.”
Raymond was quiet.
Then he opened the leather folder on his lap.
“There may be an answer.”
Emily frowned.
Raymond removed several pages.
“For the past year, Preston has been moving money through vendor contracts attached to the women’s pavilion.”
Emily’s eyes narrowed.
“How much?”
“We know about nine million.”
Her face changed.
“From the foundation?”
“Yes.”
“My mother’s foundation?”
“Yes.”
Emily sat straighter.
The monitor shifted.
Raymond raised a hand.
“Easy.”
“No.”
Emily looked at the documents.
“He stole from her?”
“We don’t know that yet.”
“You said nine million.”
“I said it moved through questionable contracts.”
Emily scanned the pages.
One company name appeared repeatedly.
CROSS HEALTH STRATEGIES.
Emily looked up.
“Cross.”
Raymond nodded.
“Vanessa Cross.”
The silence became heavy.
Emily looked toward the door.
“This wasn’t just an affair.”
“No.”
Raymond’s eyes were hard.
“It looks like Vanessa may have been helping Preston drain the foundation.”
Emily stared at her mother’s name printed at the top of the financial report.
Then she reached toward the bedside table.
“For what?”
Raymond watched her take her phone.
“Who are you calling?”
May you like
Emily unlocked it.
“My lawyer.”
