Chapter 7 - The Locked Study
Lucas waited beside the staircase.
“Where were you?”
“The bookstore.”
“Show me the bag.”
Margot laughed softly, as though his demand were absurd.
Lucas didn’t laugh.
She handed it over.
He searched through two novels, a scarf, and a box of tea.
The forged authorization remained hidden inside the lining beneath a loose seam.
“What exactly are you looking for?” she asked.
Lucas placed the bag on the table.
“You’ve been confused lately.”
Margot felt the threat beneath the concern.
“Have I?”
“You forgot why the drawer was locked. You misunderstood the estate papers. You wandered out without telling me.”
“I went shopping.”
“At your age, sudden confusion can be serious.”
Margot stared at him.
Lucas had prepared more than financial documents.
He was building a story in which she could not trust her own mind.
That evening, he called their daughter, Claire, and put the conversation on speaker.
“Your mother’s been acting strangely.”
Margot stood across the room, silent.
Claire sounded worried.
“Mom, are you okay?”
Lucas answered for her.
“She’s overwhelmed.”
Margot stepped closer.
“I’m perfectly clear.”
Lucas’s smile froze.
Claire asked to speak with her privately.
Lucas ended the call.
“She’s busy.”
Margot’s fear hardened into anger.
He wasn’t only stealing her money.
May you like
He was preparing to steal her credibility.
👉 That night, Margot found a new bottle in the medicine cabinet—prescribed in her name by a doctor she had never met.
