Chapter 11 - THE DAY I DIED
“They showed me a letter.”
Gwen’s voice was barely audible.
“It looked official.”
“What did it say?”
“That your unit had suffered casualties.”
My stomach turned.
“They said your status wasn’t confirmed, but Margaret told me privately that you were dead.”
I sat very still.
“When?”
“Eleven months ago.”
I remembered that period.
We had been moved suddenly.
Communications went dark for almost two weeks.
When I got back online, messages from Gwen were strange.
Short.
Distant.
Margaret told me Gwen was heavily medicated and depressed.
I believed her.
God help me, I believed my mother.
“What did she make you sign?”
“Power of attorney. Property documents. Medical forms.”
“Did you know what they were?”
“Not all of them.”
Laura said quietly, “If consent was obtained through deception or coercion, that matters.”
I rubbed both hands over my face.
The plan was becoming clear.
Control the money.
Control the house.
Control Gwen.
Make her believe I was dead.
Then when I reappeared, make me believe she had cheated.
Separate us.
Keep everything.
Marcus arrived at the hospital carrying a folder.
He looked furious.
“We found something.”
“What?”
“The home-equity loan was only the beginning.”
He opened the folder.
“Your mother and sister opened two credit cards in your name.”
“How much?”
“Forty-three thousand combined.”
I laughed.
Not because it was funny.
Because sometimes rage has nowhere else to go.
Marcus continued.
“They also attempted to refinance the house three months ago.”
“Attempted?”
“The lender requested a live video verification with you.”
“So it failed.”
“Yes.”
I looked at Gwen.
“That’s why they needed me angry.”
Marcus nodded.
“If you came back, they needed a story. Gwen stole your money. Gwen cheated. Gwen manipulated your family.”
“And if I lost control?”
“They could call police. Claim you were unstable after deployment. Maybe get a restraining order.”
Gwen covered her mouth.
I understood.
They weren’t improvising.
They had a plan for my return.
My unexpected arrival had simply moved up the schedule.
Then Marcus took out one final page.
“This was in the burned material.”
“What is it?”
“A real estate listing agreement.”
I read the address.
My house.
“They were selling it?”
“Trying to.”
“When?”
Marcus looked at me.
“Friday.”
Three days from now.
Gwen stared at him.
“Where were they going?”
Marcus hesitated.
“We checked Paige’s public social media.”
He turned his phone toward us.
There was a photograph of Paige holding two plane tickets.
The caption read:
NEW LIFE. NEW COUNTRY. NO MORE DRAMA.
Departure date: Friday.
One-way tickets.
Then Marcus swiped to another photo.
Margaret and Paige were smiling on a beach.
The caption had been posted only twenty minutes earlier.
I frowned.
“That’s not live.”
“No,” Marcus said.
“It’s scheduled content.”
I looked at him.
“What does that mean?”
May you like
“It means they may already be running.”
---
