Chapter 6 - THE DOCTOR'S SECRET
The next morning, Margaret requested my complete medical file.
The doctor's office refused.
They cited privacy rules.
Margaret smiled when she told me.
“They're hiding behind the wrong law.”
She filed the proper requests.
Two days later, the records arrived.
I read them myself.
At first, everything looked normal.
Blood pressure.
Prenatal visits.
Lab results.
Delivery notes.
Then I found something strange.
A note I had never seen before.
Patient demonstrates increasing emotional instability. Husband reports concern regarding behavior.
I stared at the sentence.
I had never said that.
I had never been asked about it.
And Daniel had never been present for that appointment.
Margaret circled the entry.
“Date?”
“Six weeks before Noah was born.”
“Who entered it?”
The electronic record showed a physician assistant.
I searched my memory.
That woman hadn't examined me.
She had only taken my blood pressure.
I looked at Margaret.
“Daniel was there that day.”
Margaret's eyes narrowed.
“Did he speak to anyone privately?”
“Yes.”
“Who?”
“The physician assistant.”
We contacted the hospital's compliance department.
They investigated.
Forty-eight hours later, they called.
There had been unauthorized access to my chart.
Three times.
All from the same employee account.
And one of those accesses occurred after Daniel had been photographed entering the clinic.
Margaret looked at me.
“This is getting bigger.”
“How big?”
“Big enough that his attorney may not understand what he's dealing with.”
Then the police called.
They had found another recording.
The exterior camera had captured Daniel and Lorraine talking in the driveway two weeks before the attack.
The conversation was barely audible.
But investigators enhanced it.
Daniel's voice:
“Once the baby comes, she'll be exhausted.”
Lorraine:
“And the house?”
Daniel:
“She'll give it up if she thinks she's protecting the baby.”
Lorraine:
“What if she refuses?”
Daniel:
“Then we make her look unstable.”
I closed my eyes.
There it was.
The plan.
Not an accident.
Not a moment of anger.
A strategy.
I had spent eight years helping lawyers prove patterns.
Now I had one of my own.
That afternoon, Daniel's attorney requested mediation.
Margaret said no.
“He wants to negotiate before the evidence reaches court.”
“Can we refuse?”
“We can.”
“Then refuse.”
She smiled.
“I already did.”
That evening, an unknown number called.
I answered.
A woman's voice said:
“Claire?”
“Yes.”
“You don't know me.”
“Who are you?”
“I was engaged to Daniel.”
My blood ran cold.
“Was?”
“I ended it yesterday.”
“Why?”
There was a long silence.
“Because I found out what he did to you.”
I sat down.
“What did you find?”
“He told me you were unstable.”
“I know.”
“He told me you attacked him.”
“I know.”
“He told me you were obsessed with controlling his money.”
I laughed bitterly.
“I know.”
Her voice cracked.
“But then I saw the messages he sent me.”
“What messages?”
“He said once you were gone, he would marry me.”
I waited.
“What else?”
“He said your baby would make you too tired to fight.”
I closed my eyes.
Then she whispered:
“He also said something about the night you were attacked.”
My grip tightened around the phone.
“What?”
“He said, ‘After tonight, she won't have a choice.’”
I didn't speak.
Neither did she.
Then she added:
“Claire, I think he planned it.”
I looked at Noah sleeping beside me.
“I know.”
But there was one thing I didn't know.
How much had he planned?
May you like
And how much worse could it become?
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