Chapter 4 - The Hidden Motive
The next morning, Nancy finally opened her eyes. The color was slowly returning to her pale cheeks, though she was still hooked up to several tubes. I sat beside her, holding her tiny, frail hand, kissing her knuckles over and over again.
"Mommy?" she whispered, her voice rasping from the breathing tube they had removed earlier.
"I’m right here, my sweet girl," I smiled, tears blurring my vision. "Mommy’s right here. You’re safe now. The little fish are all gone."
"Nana gave them to me," Nancy murmured, looking scared. "She said if I cried, the magic would go away. It hurted so bad, Mommy."
"I know, baby. I know. Nana was wrong. She lied to you, and she’s never going to hurt you again. I promise you that."
While Nancy rested, my phone rang incessantly. It was Brandon. He had been released from the police station late last night after providing his statement, but he hadn't come back to the hospital. When I finally answered on the tenth call, his voice sounded broken.
"Samantha... please. We need to talk."
"I have nothing to say to you, Brandon."
"I’m outside the hospital. Please come down to the parking lot. Just five minutes. You don't understand... there’s more."
Against my better judgment, I left Nancy under the watchful eye of a dedicated pediatric nurse and stepped out into the crisp morning air. Brandon was leaning against his car, looking disheveled and hollowed out. The confident, sharp businessman I had married was gone.
"What do you want?" I asked coldly, standing several feet away.
"I saw the full police evidence," Brandon stammered, wiping a hand across his face. "My mother... she confessed to the detectives during her night in holding. But Samantha... it wasn't just about custody."
I frowned. "What are you talking about?"
"My mother is completely broke," Brandon revealed, his voice shaking. "Her business failed two years ago. She’s been living on credit cards and taking out loans in my father’s old name. She’s hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt."
The revelation hit me like a physical blow. "And how does poisoning our daughter fix her debts?"
"She took out a child life insurance policy on Nancy six months ago," Brandon whispered, tears finally streaming down his face. "Without our knowledge. She used forged signatures. The policy had a payouts clause for severe accidental death or permanent disability."
I felt the ground sway beneath my feet. Disgust, raw and overwhelming, rose in my throat.
Evelyn hadn't just been playing a twisted game to get custody. She had been playing a double game. If Nancy survived and I was sent to prison for child abuse, Evelyn would get custody of Nancy and access to the trust fund my family had set up for her. If Nancy didn't survive the internal damage caused by thirty-six magnets tearing through her body... Evelyn would collect a massive insurance payout.
She had treated my five-year-old daughter like a pawn in a terrifying financial gamble.
"And you," I snapped, pointing a trembling finger at Brandon. "You blindly defended her! You walked into that hospital room and immediately pointed your finger at me! You looked at your wife of seven years and called me a monster!"
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"I was blind!" Brandon begged, taking a step toward me. "She manipulated me my whole life! Samantha, please, I love you. I love Nancy. Let me help you fix this. We can hire the best lawyers, we can—"
"Don't touch me," I growled, stepping back. "You chose your side the second you doubted me. I am getting a restraining order against your mother, and I am filing for divorce."
