Chapter 5 - St. Anne's.
The drive to St. Anne's Hospital took twenty-two minutes.
Alexander experienced every one of them as punishment.
Sophie sat beside him in the back seat wrapped in his coat, holding the unopened stack of letters against her chest.
Edmund sat across from them with the black folder on his knees.
No one spoke for the first ten minutes.
Finally, Alexander looked at the butler.
"What second document?"
Edmund stared at the folder.
"I was hoping to verify it before showing you."
"You don't get to decide what I can handle tonight."
"No, sir."
Edmund opened the folder and removed a thinner sheet.
"This was filed sixteen months ago."
Alexander read the heading.
PETITION FOR VOLUNTARY TERMINATION OF MARITAL CLAIMS.
His eyes moved down the page.
Claire's signature appeared at the bottom.
This one looked different from the signature on the first document.
It was uneven and shaky.
But it looked real.
"What does this mean?"
"It appears Mrs. Claire Hale signed away any claim to marital assets."
Alexander looked up.
"Why would she do that?"
Edmund hesitated.
"The filing includes a statement that she accepted a private settlement."
"How much?"
"Five hundred thousand dollars."
Alexander almost laughed.
"She was working at a diner."
"Yes."
"She and Sophie were sleeping near my greenhouse."
"Yes."
"So where is the settlement?"
Edmund turned the page.
"That is what concerns me."
A transfer receipt showed half a million dollars sent to an account bearing Claire's name.
But the receiving bank was in the Cayman Islands.
Alexander stared at it.
"Claire has never had an offshore account."
"I do not believe she had this one either."
Sophie looked between them.
"Is Mommy in trouble?"
Alexander immediately put the paper away.
"No, sweetheart."
It was a promise he had no evidence to support.
St. Anne's stood between a laundromat and an abandoned department store, its brick exterior stained by decades of weather.
The lobby smelled like disinfectant and old coffee.
Alexander carried Sophie inside.
At the reception desk, a tired nurse looked up.
"Can I help you?"
"Claire Hale."
The nurse typed.
Then her expression changed.
"Are you family?"
Alexander looked at Sophie.
"I'm her husband."
The nurse's eyes moved to his tuxedo, then to the child in his arms.
"She's in room 417."
Alexander's heart started pounding.
"What happened?"
"I can't discuss medical details in the lobby."
"Is she awake?"
The nurse hesitated.
"Not consistently."
Sophie began crying silently.
Alexander carried her toward the elevator.
On the fourth floor, a doctor met them outside room 417.
Dr. Elena Ruiz looked to be in her forties and far too exhausted to be impressed by Alexander's last name.
"Mr. Hale?"
"Yes."
"Your wife was admitted two days ago with severe pneumonia, dehydration, and exhaustion."
Alexander stared through the small window in the door.
Claire lay in the bed beneath a thin blanket.
She looked nothing like the woman he remembered.
Her face was thinner.
Her dark hair had been cut short.
An oxygen line rested beneath her nose.
Alexander's knees nearly gave out.
Sophie whispered, "Mommy."
Dr. Ruiz looked at the child.
"She needs rest, but seeing her daughter may help."
Alexander swallowed.
"Why didn't anyone call me?"
The doctor looked at him carefully.
"Your wife listed no husband."
The words hit harder than Alexander expected.
"Did she list anyone?"
"Her daughter."
"She's six."
"I know."
Alexander looked at Edmund.
The old man lowered his eyes.
Dr. Ruiz opened the door.
Sophie ran to the bed.
"Mommy."
Claire's eyes opened slowly.
For a moment, she looked confused.
Then she saw Sophie and smiled weakly.
"Hey, bug."
Sophie climbed carefully onto the edge of the bed.
"I found Daddy."
Claire's smile disappeared.
Her gaze moved across the room.
She saw Alexander.
Every bit of warmth left her face.
Alexander took one step forward.
"Claire."
Her voice was rough.
"No."
"Please."
"Get out."
Sophie looked between them.
"Mommy, he came back."
Claire's eyes filled with tears.
"Baby, go with the nurse for a minute."
Sophie shook her head.
Alexander spoke quietly.
"She stays if she wants to stay."
Claire looked at him with open fury.
"You don't get to decide that."
Alexander accepted the blow.
"You're right."
Claire stared at him as if she had prepared for years to hate him and had not prepared at all to see him.
"Why are you here?"
Alexander took the forged document from the folder.
"Because I found this."
Claire looked at the page.
Her breathing changed.
"Where did you get that?"
"My mother's study."
Claire turned away.
"Of course."
"I didn't sign it."
She laughed weakly.
"That is what she said you would say if I ever saw you again."
Alexander moved closer.
"Claire, look at me."
She did.
"I never signed you away."
Her eyes searched his face.
For one second, hope appeared.
Then fear crushed it.
"It doesn't matter."
"It matters to me."
"Then ask your mother why she had me arrested."
Alexander went still.
"What?"
Claire looked toward Sophie.
"Ask her why she told the police I kidnapped my own daughter."
Edmund inhaled sharply.
Alexander could barely speak.
"When?"
Claire's expression hardened.
"The night I signed the second document."
Alexander pulled the page from the folder.
Claire looked at her signature.
"That one is real."
His stomach dropped.
"Why did you sign it?"
Claire stared at him.
"Because your mother had Sophie in another room, and she told me I had ten minutes to choose."
Alexander's voice became a whisper.
"Choose what?"
May you like
Claire's eyes filled with tears.
"Your money or my daughter."
