Chapter 8 - The Woman With My Mother’s Face
The board meeting stopped.
Even Richard Sloan forgot to continue the vote.
I stared at the security image until my vision blurred.
The woman had my mother’s dark hair.
Her high cheekbones.
Her narrow chin.
Even the slight tilt of her head matched photographs I had studied throughout childhood.
But Catherine Beaumont had died in 1998.
Her body had been identified after the plane crash.
My grandfather had buried her.
“This is impossible,” I said.
My grandfather did not answer.
He looked older than he had minutes earlier.
Evelyn noticed.
“Arthur?”
He reached for the edge of the table.
“End the meeting.”
Sloan objected.
“We are in the middle of a vote.”
My grandfather looked at him.
“If you call another vote while my family is facing an active security threat, every action you take will be challenged personally.”
Sloan smiled.
“That sounds like intimidation.”
“It is notification.”
Evelyn disconnected the conference before Sloan could respond.
I turned toward my grandfather.
“You recognize her.”
“No.”
“You reacted before Daniel said anything.”
“She resembles your mother.”
“She is identical.”
“Catherine would be fifty-six now.”
“The woman in the video looks older than Mom did when she died.”
He said nothing.
A terrible thought formed.
“Did my mother survive the crash?”
“No.”
His answer was immediate.
Too immediate.
“Did you see her body?”
“Yes.”
“Did I?”
“You were nineteen.”
“I was kept away from the identification.”
“For your protection.”
“Who identified her?”
“I did.”
“And Dad?”
“I identified him too.”
“Were you certain?”
His face tightened.
“The crash caused extensive damage.”
My heart began pounding.
“You were not certain.”
“I was certain enough.”
“That is not certainty.”
He stood and walked toward the window.
For years, my parents’ deaths had been a closed door.
Now I saw cracks around the frame.
Evelyn pulled up the bank video.
“We need to consider realistic explanations.”
“A relative,” Daniel said through the phone.
“A professional impersonator.”
“Surgical alteration.”
“Digital manipulation.”
“The bank confirms this is original footage.”
I looked at my grandfather.
“Did Mom have a sister?”
“No.”
“A cousin who looked like her?”
“One.”
The answer came quietly.
“What was her name?”
“Charlotte Vale.”
I had never heard it.
“Who is she?”
“Your grandmother’s niece.”
“Why have you never mentioned her?”
“Because Charlotte disappeared before you were born.”
“Disappeared how?”
“She left the family.”
“That is not the same as disappearing.”
“She joined Meridian Crown’s founding group.”
Every person in the room became still.
Meridian again.
My grandfather continued.
“Charlotte believed hospitals should be run for profit without charitable restrictions.”
“Your mother opposed her.”
“They fought over the future of Beacon Crest.”
“How similar did they look?”
“Nearly identical when they were young.”
“And now?”
“I have not seen Charlotte in thirty years.”
I stared at the image.
The woman might not be my mother.
She might be her older cousin.
A woman connected to Meridian.
A woman who knew the Beaumont family well enough to impersonate me.
“Could Charlotte know about the amendment?”
“Yes.”
“Could she know the archive codes?”
“Not unless someone gave them to her.”
“Thomas.”
My grandfather looked away.
Thomas’s betrayal now had a face behind it.
Daniel obtained the bank’s exit footage.
The woman entered a black sedan.
The vehicle was registered to Northstar Clinical Strategies.
Vanessa’s shell company.
The connections were tightening.
“Find Charlotte,” I said.
“We are searching,” Daniel replied.
“She may use another name.”
My grandfather gave him several old photographs.
One showed my mother and Charlotte at age twenty.
They could have been sisters.
Charlotte’s eyes were different.
Colder.
Even in the photograph, she looked directly at the camera as if challenging whoever stood behind it.
“Why did she leave?” I asked.
My grandfather sat again.
“Your great-grandmother chose Catherine to inherit the protected shares.”
“Charlotte believed they should have been divided.”
“Was she entitled to them?”
“Legally, no.”
“Did she think she was?”
“Yes.”
“What happened after the plane crash?”
“She contacted me once.”
“What did she want?”
“The sealed amendment.”
“And you refused.”
“I told her she had no claim.”
“She disappeared after that?”
“Yes.”
I looked at the bank image.
“She came back.”
My grandfather nodded.
“For the trust.”
The empty safe-deposit box meant Charlotte now had Vanessa’s evidence.
She may also have the missing Helix ownership certificate.
Grant was not the architect of the entire plan.
He was a piece.
Perhaps an important piece.
Still, a piece.
The true battle had begun decades earlier.
Dr. Park entered before we could continue.
“Elise’s condition has changed.”
Everything else disappeared.
I followed her to the incubator as quickly as my body allowed.
Elise’s breathing had become faster.
Her heart rate was elevated.
The open vessel in her heart was placing additional strain on her lungs.
“We are beginning medication,” Dr. Park said.
“Will it work?”
“It works for many premature infants.”
“And if it doesn’t?”
“We will discuss a catheter-based procedure or surgery.”
The word surgery made the room spin.
“She weighs less than three pounds.”
“I know.”
“Can she survive it?”
“She is stronger than she looks.”
I placed my hand through the incubator port.
Elise’s fingers did not curl around mine this time.
“Come on, sweetheart.”
“I need you to fight.”
Grant arrived outside the NICU twenty minutes later.
Security denied him entry.
He demanded supervised access under the court order.
Dr. Park refused because Elise was unstable.
Grant threatened another emergency filing.
Then he sent me a message.
I heard about Elise.
Let me see my daughter.
I read the sentence several times.
Part of me wanted to believe concern had finally reached him.
Then another message arrived.
We need to discuss the voting trust before the board reconvenes.
There it was.
Not love.
Leverage.
I handed the phone to Evelyn.
“Save it.”
Grant sent another.
Your grandfather never told you what happens if Elise doesn’t survive.
My blood turned cold.
I called him.
He answered immediately.
“What does that mean?”
His voice was softer than it had been in the NICU.
“I’m worried about her.”
“No.”
“You are worried about the trust.”
“The trust matters to her future.”
“You called her a burden.”
“I was angry.”
“You called her a runt.”
“I said things I regret.”
“You misspelled her name.”
“That was my attorney.”
“You signed it.”
Silence.
“What happens to the voting shares if Elise dies?” I asked.
Grant took a slow breath.
“They return to the main foundation.”
“You knew.”
“Vanessa told me.”
“When?”
“After the birth.”
“That is a lie.”
He said nothing.
“You knew before we married.”
“Emma, we can fix this.”
“There is no this.”
“The board will destroy your grandfather.”
“You mean Charlotte will.”
Grant stopped breathing.
I heard it.
“You know her,” I said.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Your silence says otherwise.”
“Listen to me.”
“Charlotte is dangerous.”
“More dangerous than you?”
“Yes.”
The answer came without hesitation.
For the first time, Grant sounded honest.
“She will sacrifice anyone to control Beacon Crest.”
“Including you?”
“She already tried.”
“Is that why you want the liability clause removed?”
“She wants the foundation financially exposed.”
“And you want to save yourself.”
“I want to keep Helix alive.”
“Four babies died.”
“I did not know the full extent.”
“Marcus says you did.”
“Marcus is not innocent.”
“Where is he?”
“I don’t know.”
“Where is Vanessa?”
“I don’t know.”
“Where is Charlotte?”
Grant lowered his voice.
“She is closer than you think.”
“That is not an answer.”
“She has someone inside the NICU.”
I looked around.
Mia stood at the medication station.
Dr. Park was beside Elise.
Two nurses moved between incubators.
My grandfather waited behind the glass.
“You expect me to believe that?”
“I expect you to watch who touches the twins.”
My heart pounded.
“Who?”
“I don’t know.”
“Then why warn me?”
“Because Charlotte said she would force the trust to return to the foundation before the vote.”
My fingers went numb around the phone.
“She threatened Elise?”
“She never says things directly.”
“Tell Daniel.”
“I cannot.”
“Why?”
“Because Charlotte has Vanessa.”
“You do know where she is.”
“No.”
“But you are speaking with Charlotte.”
Grant became silent again.
“You will tell me everything.”
“I will trade everything I know for protection.”
“From prosecution?”
“From Charlotte.”
“I do not control either.”
“You control the shares.”
“Not while Elise is fighting for her life.”
“That is exactly why you should make the deal now.”
His desperation revealed his true fear.
Charlotte was cutting him out.
“What do you have?” I asked.
“The name of the third board member.”
“Tell me.”
“Guarantee my protection first.”
“No.”
“Then watch the people around your daughter.”
He ended the call.
I immediately told Daniel.
He ordered every staff credential in the NICU reverified.
All medication was placed under dual control.
Every visitor was removed.
Security officers checked service corridors.
Dr. Park examined Elise’s treatment orders personally.
No unauthorized changes appeared.
For two hours, nothing happened.
The medication entered Elise’s IV.
Her heart rate gradually improved.
I began to believe Grant had invented the threat to frighten me.
Then Mia noticed a discrepancy.
“The dose on the pump doesn’t match the order.”
Dr. Park rushed over.
The medication pump had been programmed at ten times the intended rate.
Mia stopped it immediately.
Only a small amount had entered the line.
“Who programmed this?” Daniel asked.
The assigned nurse looked horrified.
“I entered the correct rate.”
“Did anyone approach the pump afterward?”
“No.”
The pump’s access log showed an override code.
The code belonged to Dr. Park.
She stared at the screen.
“I did not touch it.”
Someone had copied her credentials.
Daniel ordered the pump seized.
Dr. Park checked Elise’s condition.
The overdose had been stopped in time.
She expected no lasting harm.
My legs gave way with relief.
My grandfather caught me.
“Grant was telling the truth,” I whispered.
“Someone is inside.”
Daniel reviewed footage from the previous hour.
The camera showed nurses moving around Elise’s incubator.
At 1:16, the image froze for nine seconds.
When it resumed, the pump settings had changed.
The system had been accessed remotely.
“From where?” I asked.
The technician traced the signal.
It came from an administrative terminal on the executive floor.
The same floor where the archive had been entered.
Security reached the terminal.
No one was there.
A message remained on the screen.
THE GIRL IS ONLY VALUABLE WHILE SHE LIVES.
Beneath it was a list of board votes.
Eleven names had been marked.
May you like
One remained blank.
Mine.
