Chapter 4 - THE PHASES
Phase One removed Clara’s outside friends.
Phase Two controlled money, transportation, and medical appointments.
Phase Three assigned household labor and public humiliation.
Phase Four would declare her emotionally unstable.
Then Claire would enter the marriage publicly.
The family would keep the trust and replace the woman.
Sienna said:
“She was never supposed to stay this long.”
Clara’s face changed.
Not broken.
Clear.
“You expected Julian to stop loving me.”
Margaret’s voice came through the speaker.
“We expected him to mature.”
I disconnected the call.
Then the dining room phone rang.
Every relative looked toward it.
Claire answered.
Her face drained.
Margaret had activated Phase Four remotely.
An emergency psychiatric petition had been filed under Clara’s false identity.
Police and medical transport were already on the way.
The family planned to remove her before the camera footage could be secured.
But the footage had uploaded automatically.
Outside sirens approached.
Then Clara’s phone lit up.
A message from an unknown number:
DO NOT LET THEM TAKE YOU TO ST. VANCE.
Clara whispered:
May you like
“That’s the hospital where my mother died.”
Read Chapter 5 to discover what happened at St. Vance.
