Chapter 3 - The Hospital Door
Victor came to the hospital on the fourth day.
Not because anyone told him I was alive.
Special Agent Ross requested he attend what Victor believed was an insurance verification interview.
Serena came too.
Why?
Victor told investigators she was “supporting him through grief.”
I nearly laughed when I heard.
Adrian stood beside my bed.
Nurse Megan adjusted my IV.
Hospital security waited beyond the door.
My son’s heartbeat remained steady.
I was bruised.
Bandaged.
Weak.
But awake.
Ross had asked:
“Do you want to be in the room?”
“Yes.”
“You do not have to.”
“I know.”
Then footsteps approached.
Victor’s voice came from the hallway.
“I don’t understand why this can’t wait.”
Ross:
“It concerns the claim.”
The door opened.
Victor walked in first.
Serena behind him.
He looked toward the bed.
Stopped.
Every bit of color left his face.
Serena made a strangled sound.
I stared at my husband.
“Hello, Victor.”
His mouth opened.
Nothing.
Then:
“Elena?”
“Yes.”
He took one step backward.
Serena hit the doorframe.
“No.”
Victor whispered:
“You were supposed to freeze to death out there.”
Silence.
Even Ross looked surprised by how easily it came.
I smiled weakly.
“You should stop talking.”
Victor recovered too late.
“I mean…”
Adrian crossed the room.
“You mean what?”
Victor finally recognized him.
“Mr. Cross?”
Adrian grabbed Victor’s collar and slammed him against the wall.
Megan hit the emergency alarm.
“Mr. Cross!”
Security rushed in.
Two men pulled Adrian away.
He did not resist.
Victor shouted:
“She fell!”
I laughed.
It hurt my ribs.
“You pushed me.”
“You were hysterical.”
Serena started crying.
“I told him not to…”
Victor spun.
“Shut up.”
Wrong choice.
Ross watched.
Then Adrian held up the printed claim.
“He filed her death claim before rescue teams even located her.”
Victor looked toward the door.
Security blocked it.
Then another investigator entered carrying a sealed file.
“Agent Ross.”
“What?”
“We found the linked contract.”
Victor froze.
The investigator looked at Adrian.
“Mr. Cross, there’s a second fifty million dollar policy.”
Adrian’s expression hardened.
“On whom?”
The investigator glanced at me.
“On Elena’s unborn son.”
The room went silent.
Victor lunged toward the file.
Security caught him.
“Give me that!”
Serena screamed:
“Victor!”
I stared at the investigator.
“That isn’t possible.”
“It shouldn’t be.”
“What does that mean?”
He opened a copy.
The policy was marked:
PRIVATE FAMILY CONTINUITY BINDER.
INSURED:
BABY BOY HALE.
EXPECTED DATE OF BIRTH:
DECEMBER 3.
FACE AMOUNT:
$50,000,000.
OWNER:
HALE LEGACY CAPITAL LLC.
BENEFICIARY:
HALE LEGACY CAPITAL LLC.
My stomach turned.
Victor controlled Hale Legacy Capital.
I had seen the company on tax returns.
I thought it held investment property.
Then another line.
LIVE BIRTH VERIFICATION:
CONFIRMED.
Date:
Two days before Victor pushed me.
I stared.
“My baby is inside me.”
“Yes.”
“So somebody verified a birth that never happened.”
“Yes.”
Victor stopped struggling.
That frightened me more.
He knew.
Then Adrian took the copy.
“Who approved this?”
The investigator pointed.
SENIOR UNDERWRITING OVERRIDE:
MARTIN VALE.
Adrian’s face changed.
I had heard that name.
Cross Atlantic’s executive vice president for private underwriting.
A man who had worked beside Adrian for twenty years.
Victor looked at Adrian.
Then smiled.
Small.
Ugly.
“You really don’t know what happens inside your own company, do you?”
Adrian stepped toward him again.
Ross blocked him this time.
“Mr. Cross.”
Adrian stopped.
Then Victor looked at me.
His arrogance returned for half a second.
“You think surviving fixes anything?”
I stared.
“No.”
Then:
“But it ruined your claim.”
Serena started sobbing.
Victor turned toward her.
“Stop.”
She pointed at him.
“You said she wouldn’t survive the fall!”
Every person in the room froze.
Victor whispered:
“Serena.”
She realized.
Too late.
Ross stepped closer.
“Ms. Quinn, I suggest you stop speaking until you have counsel.”
Serena covered her mouth.
Then my stomach tightened.
Hard.
Different from pain.
Another contraction followed.
Megan looked at the monitor.
“Elena?”
I gripped the bedrail.
“What?”
She checked again.
May you like
Then pressed the call button.
“You’re in labor.”
