## **Chapter 11: Nathan’s Other Wife**
Nathan read the document repeatedly.
It did not become less impossible.
According to Vermont records, a woman using Claire’s identity had been legally married to him for nine years.
Their marriage date matched Nathan and Claire’s actual wedding.
The certificate contained Nathan’s full name, birth date, Social Security number, and a forged signature nearly identical to his own.
The bride was listed as Claire Bennett.
No photograph appeared on the public record.
Marcus had created a duplicate marriage.
Ethan contacted the county clerk. The certificate had been filed through a remote officiant whose license was later revoked for fraudulent registrations.
The witness signatures belonged to two employees of Bell Strategic Holdings.
“Why create a second marriage?” Nathan asked.
“Access,” Ethan replied. “Medical decisions. Inheritance claims. Spousal privilege. Property rights.”
Claire stared at the record.
“If Laura has been told she is me, Marcus may have convinced her Nathan is her husband.”
Evelyn sat down.
“She was always vulnerable to identity confusion.”
Claire looked at her sharply.
“You mean after you erased her real identity.”
Evelyn did not respond.
The false marriage introduced a dangerous legal problem. If Marcus produced Laura as Nathan’s lawful spouse and challenged Claire’s identity, he could freeze marital assets, delay the company’s recovery, and undermine Claire’s authority over Charles’s dormant shares.
The scheme had never depended solely on Vanessa’s fake pregnancy.
The pregnancy pressured Nathan into transferring voting shares.
The duplicate wife gave Marcus a second route to control Nathan’s personal estate.
“He built overlapping traps,” Ethan said. “If one failed, another activated.”
They needed to find Laura before Marcus used her publicly.
St. Orison’s records showed that “Claire Bennett” had been released into Nathan’s custody. The discharge address belonged to an estate in Westchester owned by a shell company.
Police searched the property.
It was empty.
Inside, they found women’s clothing matching Claire’s sizes, framed photographs of Nathan, and newspaper clippings documenting the Cole marriage.
One bedroom had been decorated as a careful imitation of Claire’s room at Cole House.
The wallpaper pattern matched.
The furniture had been custom-built.
Even the perfume on the dresser was Claire’s brand.
On the wall hung dozens of photographs with Claire’s face replaced by Laura’s.
A manufactured life.
In a journal found beneath the bed, Laura wrote about her “husband Nathan.”
The entries described visits he supposedly made.
Nathan came today. He said the other woman is still pretending to be me.
Nathan promised he will bring me home after the baby problem is handled.
Nathan says I must trust Marcus because Marcus protects our marriage.
Someone impersonating Nathan had been visiting her.
Bishop Stage Supply records showed no Nathan facial appliance order, but another costume company might have provided it.
The journal’s final entry had been written three days earlier.
Nathan says I will meet my sister soon. She stole my name, but he says I must forgive her before I take back my house.
Claire closed the journal.
“She thinks I stole her life.”
“She’s been conditioned for years,” Ethan said.
A police officer called from downstairs.
They had found a hidden room behind the pantry.
Inside were surveillance monitors displaying live feeds from Cole House, Nathan’s office, Claire’s former architecture studio, and Evelyn’s foundation.
Most screens were now blank.
One remained active.
It showed Daniel Mercer seated in an interrogation room.
The feed originated from inside the police station.
Marcus still had access to protected systems.
Another screen displayed Vanessa’s hospital room.
She slept beneath guard supervision.
A third showed Marcus himself sitting in custody.
He looked directly into the hidden camera and smiled.
Then he lifted a handwritten card.
YOU ARE SEARCHING THE WRONG HOUSE.
The feed changed.
A live image of Claire appeared.
She stood in the hidden surveillance room, looking at the monitor.
The camera filmed her from behind.
Someone was inside the room with them.
Ethan turned.
A man wearing a police uniform stood in the doorway.
He raised his weapon.
Nathan moved first, pulling Claire behind the monitor bank as the gun fired.
Glass exploded.
Ethan tackled the shooter.
They struck the floor. The gun slid beneath a desk.
The man fought with professional efficiency, driving an elbow into Ethan’s ribs before reaching for a knife.
Nathan kicked the knife away.
Police rushed into the room and restrained him.
The uniform was stolen.
The man carried no identification.
Inside his pocket, they found a photograph of Laura wearing Claire’s clothes.
The background showed a railway platform.
A clock behind her read 10:35.
The current time was 10:12.
The photograph had been staged as a deadline.
Written beneath it:
CENTRAL TERMINAL. TRACK 27. COME WITH CLAIRE.
Nathan looked at Ethan.
“It’s another trap.”
“Yes.”
“But Laura may be there.”
“Or another impersonator.”
Claire took the photograph.
“I have to go.”
Nathan shook his head.
“No.”
“She is my sister.”
“She may believe you’re her enemy.”
“That’s why I need to speak to her.”
Marcus wanted Claire at the terminal. The demand proved Laura’s identity mattered to the next stage.
Police prepared controlled surveillance.
At 10:31, Claire entered Grand Central Terminal accompanied by Ethan at a distance. Nathan remained inside an operations room under protest.
Track 27 served a train departing for Connecticut.
Passengers moved through the concourse.
Claire saw a woman near the platform gate.
Same dark hair.
Same height.
A thin scar crossed her left wrist.
The real Laura.
She wore Claire’s gray coat.
Laura looked at Claire with an expression of stunned recognition.
For a moment, the years between them seemed to disappear.
Then a man resembling Nathan stepped beside Laura.
The imitation was extraordinary.
Same hair.
Same jawline.
Same dark overcoat.
Laura took his hand.
The false Nathan pointed toward Claire.
“She came to replace you again.”
Laura’s expression turned fearful.
Claire moved closer.
“Laura, he isn’t Nathan.”
The impersonator smiled.
“Don’t listen to her.”
Claire looked directly at her sister.
“Our mother kept your yellow sweater.”
Laura froze.
Claire continued.
“You used to hide crackers under your pillow because you were afraid Dad would eat them. You called me Cricket because I kicked my legs in my sleep.”
Laura’s eyes filled.
The impersonator tightened his grip on her hand.
“She learned those details from Evelyn.”
Claire stepped closer.
“The night of the fire, you wrapped me in a bathroom towel and told me to crawl. You saved me.”
Laura began to tremble.
A memory surfaced behind her eyes.
Smoke.
Heat.
A child’s hand.
“Cricket,” she whispered.
The false Nathan released her and reached inside his coat.
Ethan moved from the crowd.
Police converged.
The man did not draw a gun.
He pressed a small remote.
Across the terminal, an unattended suitcase began beeping.
Panic erupted.
Passengers ran.
Police pulled Claire and Laura away from the platform.
The suitcase contained no explosive.
It was another diversion.
During the confusion, the impersonator disappeared.
Laura clung to Claire’s arm.
“Where is my husband?”
“Nathan isn’t your husband.”
“He visited me.”
“Someone wearing his face visited you.”
Laura shook her head violently.
“No. Nathan told me about the baby.”
“The baby never existed.”
Laura stared.
“That’s not what Marcus said.”
“What did Marcus say?”
“That the baby was real.”
Claire’s uneasiness returned.
“Vanessa was never pregnant.”
“I know.”
“Then whose baby was real?”
Laura looked toward the police surrounding them.
“Yours.”
Claire felt the terminal tilt beneath her.
“I’ve never been pregnant.”
Laura’s voice dropped to a whisper.
“Marcus said Evelyn took your baby after the final fertility treatment.”
Claire stopped breathing.
“He said the embryo survived.”
Nathan was listening through the police communication system.
His voice came through Ethan’s earpiece.
“That’s impossible.”
Laura heard him.
She turned toward the sound.
“Marcus showed me the child.”
Claire gripped her sister’s arms.
“What child?”
Laura answered with absolute certainty.
May you like
“Your daughter.”
---
