Chapter 4 - Beth’s Perfect Celebration
Beth tried to visit the hospital on the third day.
Not to apologize.
To film.
The nurse stopped her at the NICU entrance because her name was not on the approved list. Beth became loud enough that Marisol called security before I even knew she was there.
By the time I saw her from the hallway, Beth was crying in the polished way she had perfected since childhood—chin trembling, eyes wide, one hand on her pregnant stomach as if her own baby made her incapable of cruelty.
“Claire,” she said when she saw me in the wheelchair. “This has gone too far.”
I stared at my twin.
Same face shape. Same blond hair. Same blue eyes. But I looked pale and hollow in hospital clothes, and she looked like she had dressed for sympathy.
“You laughed,” I said.
Her face changed.
Only for a second.
Then she whispered, “I panicked.”
“No. Derek panicked and jumped in. You smiled.”
She glanced around the hallway. People were watching. That mattered to her more than the truth.
“Mom didn’t mean to hurt you,” she said. “She was emotional. You know how she gets.”
I almost laughed.
That sentence had been the family mop for years. You know how she gets. It cleaned everything except the person bleeding.
Beth stepped closer. “If you tell the police about the financial stuff, Dad’s company collapses. Mom could be charged. Evan and I could lose the house.”
“The house Grandma’s trust helped secure illegally?”
Her eyes hardened.
“There it is,” she said. “You always have to sound superior.”
“I sound accurate.”
“You think because you saved eighteen thousand dollars, you’re better than us?”
“No,” I said. “I think because you wanted it after stealing everything else, you’re exactly who I thought you were.”
For the first time, Beth stopped pretending she was there for peace.
“You have no idea what it’s like,” she snapped. “Everyone trusts you. Everyone praises you. Claire the responsible one. Claire the smart one. Claire who never needs help. I’m pregnant too. But somehow your baby gets savings and mine gets whatever is left.”
I looked at her stomach.
Her child was innocent.
That made her words even uglier.
“Your baby deserved better than becoming the excuse for theft,” I said.
Beth’s mouth twisted.
Then she leaned down and whispered so only I could hear.
“If you ruin us, I’ll tell everyone you fell because you were hysterical. Dad already has witnesses who’ll say you were screaming.”
I looked past her.
Derek stood near the end of the hallway with a hospital visitor badge clipped to his catering jacket. Beside him was Detective Valerie Norman.
Beth followed my gaze.
Her face went pale.
May you like
Derek had come to give his statement.
And he had heard everything.
