Chapter 5 - THE WOMAN HELEN CALLED UNSTABLE
Paige agreed to meet us in Springfield.
I almost didn't go.
Daniel asked me to.
“I need you there.”
“Why?”
“Because I don’t trust my own version of this anymore.”
That was the first honest thing he had said in days.
Paige looked nothing like the woman Helen had described.
No dramatic instability.
No obvious chaos.
She was thirty-five, thin, tired, and wearing a knit cap.
Chemotherapy.
That part of Helen’s story had been true.
Paige had stage-two breast cancer.
Treatable.
Terrifying.
She had asked Helen for temporary help during surgery and chemotherapy because her own mother was dead and her father lived in assisted care.
“Why Helen?” I asked.
Paige looked at Daniel.
“Because she’s been in Nora’s life since birth.”
Daniel’s face folded.
Paige continued.
Five years earlier, she discovered she was pregnant weeks after the breakup.
She emailed Daniel.
No answer.
Called.
No answer.
Then Helen contacted her.
Helen told Paige that Daniel wanted nothing to do with the pregnancy.
Paige didn’t believe her.
So Helen showed her an email supposedly written by Daniel.
I’m not ready to be a father. Please stop contacting me.
Daniel went pale.
“I never wrote that.”
“I know that now.”
Paige looked at him.
“But I believed it then.”
Helen offered financial support on one condition.
No contact with Daniel.
Paige initially refused.
Then medical bills arrived.
Childcare.
Rent.
Nora needed surgery for a minor heart defect at eleven months.
Paige accepted help.
Helen slowly became part of their lives.
Birthday gifts.
Tuition.
Holiday visits.
The bracelet.
Everything made sense.
Except one thing.
“Why didn’t you contact Daniel again?”
Paige looked ashamed.
“I did.”
Daniel stopped breathing.
“Three years ago.”
She sent a certified letter to his office.
It was returned.
Recipient declined.
Daniel stared.
“I never saw it.”
Paige pulled out a photograph of the envelope.
Helen’s company address.
Kesler Capital.
Daniel worked there at the time.
Someone had intercepted it.
Daniel covered his mouth.
The hidden truth was becoming uglier.
Helen had not merely kept Nora secret.
She had controlled information in both directions.
Then Paige said something that changed everything again.
“I never gave Helen permission to move Nora into your house.”
Daniel looked up.
“What?”
“She was supposed to keep her at the cottage near Essex for eight days.”
“Why would she bring her here?”
May you like
Paige looked at me.
“I think she wanted you to find her.”
