Nora’s Version of Mercy
Chapter 10 - Nora’s Version of Mercy
Nora came to Margaret’s office that afternoon.
She looked exhausted.
Claire did not hug her.
For the first time in their lives, the sisters sat across from each other like strangers.
“Start talking,” Claire said.
Nora clasped her hands.
“Ethan came to me last year. He said you were making reckless financial decisions.”
“And you believed him?”
“He showed me documents.”
“Forged documents.”
“I didn’t know that.”
Claire laughed bitterly.
“You never asked me.”
Nora’s eyes filled.
“You were happy.”
“No. I looked happy.”
The distinction landed hard.
Nora admitted she had provided Ethan with old family history. Their father’s depression. Claire’s panic attacks after their mother died. A brief period of insomnia.
Nothing that justified the evaluation.
Enough to make a false report sound plausible.
“I thought he wanted to get you help,” Nora whispered.
Claire stared at her.
“You gave my husband a list of my weakest moments.”
Nora began crying.
Claire did not.
Not yet.
Margaret asked, “Did you ever see the final report?”
“No.”
“Did you sign anything?”
Nora nodded.
“One statement. Saying Claire had seemed stressed.”
Claire looked away.
There it was again.
Another person who loved her.
Another signature.
Another weapon.
Nora reached across the desk.
Claire pulled her hand back.
“Please,” Nora said.
“I need time.”
“I understand.”
“No. You don’t.”
Claire stood.
For years, she had believed family meant being known.
Now she understood that being known could be dangerous in the wrong hands.
As Nora left, she stopped at the door.
“There’s something else.”
Claire looked at her.
“Ethan asked me where Mom kept the original deed to the lake house.”
Claire’s heart dropped.
The lake house.
The only property still untouched.
Or so she thought.
Margaret opened a new search.
Three minutes later, she found the transfer.
The lake house had been sold six months earlier.
Claire’s signature authorized the sale.
She had never signed it.
The buyer was a company registered in Delaware.
Margaret traced the ownership.
Then she went silent.
Claire leaned toward the screen.
“Who owns it?”
May you like
Margaret turned the laptop.
Sabrina Cole.
