Chapter 1 - THE SIGNATURE
“She’s been using your name!”
Emily’s whisper barely carried across the wine cellar, but Richard heard every word.
For a moment, he forgot the broken glass at his feet. He forgot Vanessa, who had stumbled against the chair behind her. He forgot the two security men rushing down the cellar stairs.
He looked only at his wife.
“Emily, what do you mean?”
Her fingers trembled around his hand. She had been locked behind the false wall for so long that even standing seemed to hurt. Sophia, the young housemaid who had found her, supported her other arm.
“Your signature,” Emily whispered. “She used it on papers. So many papers.”
Vanessa recovered first.
“She’s confused. Look at her, Richard. She's been trapped in a dark room. She doesn't know what she's saying.”
Emily flinched at the sound of her voice.
Richard stepped between them.
“Don't speak to her.”
Vanessa's eyes filled with practiced tears. “Darling, I was trying to protect you. Emily became unstable. She was making accusations, threatening to ruin everything. I had no choice but to keep her somewhere safe until she calmed down.”
“You locked my wife behind a wall.”
“I was going to let her out.”
“When?”
Vanessa had no answer.
Richard turned to Sophia. “Call an ambulance. Then call the police. Tell them exactly what you found.”
Vanessa's expression sharpened. “You cannot do that. Think about the press. Think about the company.”
“I am thinking about my wife.”
Emily tugged his sleeve.
“Richard, the papers. She signed contracts in your name. She told people you were traveling. She told them you had authorized everything.”
“What did she authorize?”
Emily closed her eyes, trying to gather the memories. “The company accounts. The house. The foundation. She said you wanted me declared incapable of making decisions. She made everyone believe I had agreed to treatment.”
Richard felt the room tilt.
His private physician had sent him weekly updates about Emily's supposed recovery. His lawyers had forwarded documents for electronic approval. Vanessa had told him that his wife needed quiet and that every visit made her worse.
He had believed her.
“Who helped you?” he asked Vanessa.
She shook her head. “No one. This is a misunderstanding.”
Richard looked at the security men. “Take her phone. Nobody touches a document or leaves this property until the police arrive.”
Vanessa stepped forward. “Richard, you love me.”
He looked at her as if he no longer recognized her.
“I loved the person you pretended to be.”
The ambulance siren sounded beyond the mansion gates.
Emily leaned against Sophia, her strength fading. Richard reached for her, but she caught his wrist.
“One more thing,” she whispered. “She didn't just use your name.”
May you like
“What else?”
“She used it to make someone disappear.”
