Chapter 13 - Dr. Porter
Dr. Elaine Porter denied falsifying records.
Then investigators showed her the duplicate charts.
She blamed Victor.
Victor produced emails.
She blamed Margaret.
Margaret produced invoices.
By the third interview, Porter asked about a plea agreement.
She admitted creating alternate medical summaries.
Her defense.
She believed they were for private family planning.
Mara asked.
“Did Cassidy consent?”
“No.”
“Did you believe the notes were medically accurate?”
Porter hesitated.
“No.”
“Then why create them?”
Money.
Again.
One hundred fifty thousand dollars initially.
Then more.
Porter also revealed Margaret requested specific language.
Emotional instability.
Prenatal anxiety.
Potential maternal fixation.
Cassidy felt sick when she read it.
Maternal fixation.
As though loving her unborn child could be reworded into pathology.
Porter had planned to recommend observation after delivery.
If Cassidy showed distress from childbirth, normal exhaustion could be documented selectively.
Victor’s team could then support guardianship proceedings.
The plan was not to prove Cassidy incompetent honestly.
It was to collect moments that looked useful.
Cassidy thought of every powerful woman throughout history described as emotional the moment she resisted.
Mara asked Porter.
“Was there ever a plan to harm the baby?”
“No.”
Immediate answer.
Cassidy believed that part.
The child was too valuable to them.
That was its own kind of horror.
They wanted the baby safe.
But only as an asset.
Then Porter provided one final email.
Sender.
Margaret.
Subject.
AFTER DELIVERY.
If Cassidy refuses family residence, we need grounds to prevent relocation.
Brendan must be positioned as stable parent.
Serena cannot appear publicly until custody established.
Cassidy stared.
Serena had been hidden not because Margaret disapproved of the affair.
Because publicly revealing it too soon would damage Brendan’s custody image.
Margaret had managed the mistress too.
Every person was a piece.
When investigators confronted Margaret, she said.
“I was protecting my grandson.”
Cassidy replied.
“You didn’t even know if the baby was a boy.”
Margaret looked away.
Cassidy understood.
May you like
The gender never mattered.
Control did.
