The Hungry Girl Wore My Daughter's Locket
CHAPTER 4 - THE GUARDIANSHIP TRAP
I could not understand why Anna would choose Veronica.
Then the hospital attorney examined the document.
Anna's signature had been copied from a treatment consent form.
Veronica had used her access to my legal office to create a fraudulent guardianship agreement.
If Anna died, Veronica planned to take control of Maisie.
As the child's guardian, she could claim Maisie's inheritance.
The hungry little girl she called disgusting was worth millions under my late wife's trust.
Veronica had not rejected Maisie because she believed the child was an impostor.
She had recognized her immediately.
The locket, the blond curls and Anna's photographs had told her exactly who the girl was.
She wanted Maisie removed before I noticed her.
The police arrested Veronica for fraud, document tampering and obstructing Anna's medical care.
None of that repaired what I had done.
Veronica had hidden the letters, but my pride created the distance that made her deception possible.
When Anna finally allowed me into her hospital room, she looked smaller than I remembered.
Maisie slept beside her, one hand wrapped around her mother's arm.
"I should have searched harder," I said.
"You should have trusted me when I chose Daniel."
"You're right."
I did not ask her to forgive me.
I asked permission to take the donor tests.
Anna looked away.
Then Maisie woke and touched the silver locket.
"Mommy, Grandpa gave you this."
Anna looked at me for the first time.
"How does she know you're her grandfather?"
"I told her the truth."
"Then tell her the rest. Tell her why we were alone."
So I did.
I told Maisie that I had hurt her mother and allowed anger to become more important than love.
Anna agreed to let me help with her treatment.
Two days later, the final compatibility results arrived.
I was not the best donor.
But someone else in the family was a perfect match.
The name on the report belonged to a woman we believed had died twelve years earlier.
Anna's mother.
