Chapter 11 - The False Medical Story
Eric had contacted Lena’s doctor three months earlier.
He claimed Lena was experiencing memory problems.
He asked whether her workload might make her incapable of financial decision-making.
The doctor refused to discuss Lena without consent.
Eric then created an email account resembling the clinic’s address.
Using that account, he sent a message to the mortgage broker suggesting Lena’s signature would require Eric’s confirmation.
The message was fraudulent.
But it explained why he seemed so confident.
He believed that if he created enough confusion, institutions would treat him as the responsible spouse.
Rachel found another document on the tablet.
A draft petition for temporary financial guardianship.
Eric had not filed it.
Yet.
The petition described Lena as exhausted, emotionally unstable, and obsessed with imaginary banking theft.
Every accusation was built around reactions to things Eric was actually doing.
When she questioned missing money, he called her paranoid.
When she protected the card, he called her controlling.
When she became angry, he called her unstable.
Rachel looked at Lena.
“He was preparing an explanation before you could expose him.”
Lena remembered the night of the coffee attack.
Eric’s half-step forward.
His hesitation.
Perhaps he froze because he feared Diane.
But perhaps part of him understood that Lena’s emotional reaction could be useful.
A screaming, injured wife might support the story that she was unstable.
Instead, Lena became calm.
She took the folder.
That calmness terrified him because it meant she was thinking.
Lena authorized Rachel to file for divorce.
She also requested a complete financial audit of the marriage.
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Eric had demanded secrecy.
Now every account would be examined.
