Chapter 4 - THE RECEIPT INSIDE HELEN’S DESK
Daniel called me that night.
“You were right.”
I sat up in Rachel’s guest bed.
Grace slept beside me.
“About what?”
“The bracelet.”
He had gone back to the estate after leaving Rachel’s.
Helen was out.
Daniel searched her home office.
He found a jewelry receipt.
Two identical gold baby bracelets.
Purchased five years apart.
The first had been bought one week after Nora was born.
The second after Grace was born.
I stared into the darkness.
“Your mother knew her from birth.”
“It looks that way.”
“That isn’t what I said.”
A pause.
“Yes.”
Helen had known Nora existed for five years.
She had lied to Daniel about the pregnancy.
Then apparently maintained some relationship with the child.
“Did you find anything else?”
“Checks.”
“To Paige?”
“Monthly.”
For five years.
Most were between $1,500 and $2,000.
Several larger payments matched the start of school years.
One memo said:
Nora tuition.
Another:
Dental.
Daniel sounded physically ill.
“She didn’t discover Nora six weeks ago.”
“No.”
“She’s been supporting her.”
“Yes.”
Daniel whispered, “Why?”
I didn’t know.
But I knew one thing.
“We need Paige.”
Helen had told Daniel Paige was seriously ill.
She had also told him Paige wanted no direct contact.
I no longer trusted either statement.
Daniel searched public records.
Paige lived in Northampton, Massachusetts.
She worked part-time as an occupational therapist.
No obituary.
No public indication she was dying.
Daniel called an old number.
Disconnected.
He emailed.
No response.
Then Helen arrived home and caught him in the office.
He called me afterward.
“She said I violated her privacy.”
I laughed.
“That’s rich.”
“She wants me home tomorrow.”
“Why?”
“To discuss Nora’s custody.”
“Custody?”
“She says Paige signed temporary guardianship documents.”
“With your mother?”
“Yes.”
I looked at Grace.
The situation had moved beyond a hidden child.
Helen had legal paperwork.
Money.
Five years of contact.
And apparently a plan.
I called a family-law attorney the next morning.
Not because I wanted Nora taken from anyone.
Because I had no intention of allowing Helen to use one child to control another while the adults guessed what was legally true.
My attorney gave me the first useful instruction anyone had offered.
“Don’t sign anything. Don’t threaten custody. Preserve what you have. And find the mother.”
That afternoon, Paige Holloway finally replied to Daniel’s email.
May you like
Only one sentence.
If your mother has Nora, do not leave her alone with Helen.
