Page 134 of Three Stepbrothers Save Christmas

“But that’s not right. I have witnessed her episodes of paranoia. She blames Dad for everything; they said it’s the grief from losing my mum. Her and Mum were really close and after her death there was an argument between Trish and Dad just before the accident. They said the brain injury affected her memory and to her everything she accused dad of was actually true when it wasn’t. She would say he was keeping everything from me.” I watch as the penny drops and realisation kicks in. “Oh my god,” she gasps placing a hand over her mouth before shaking her head in disbelieve. “She wasn’t lying.”

I shake my head as I hold out the file.

“I’m going to get someone to look over this. But from what I can understand, Trish was injured from the crash, but nothing that was long-term. The police thought the breaks had been tampered with, but that report disappeared. I believe your father paid a doctor to falsify a report on Trish to make sure she was kept out of the way.”

Verity takes the file from me and pulls out the report. I watch as she reads through it. The occasional sniff or tear would slip, but she quickly wiped it away.

“That’s her doctor’s name. I avoid him when I go there, as he once told my dad that I had visited. It’s why I only visit at weekends and sign under a different name.”

“I found a long list of payments Henry made to this name. It seems Henry had power of attorney over Trish as her only living relative. I believe if the accident had happened later in life, she would have named you. But you were still too young.

“He’s been paying for her to be kept in a mental hospital, drugged up, with her own money. It wasn’t only your mum who was rich; it was family money. It’s not cost him a fortune like he claimed.”

The anger is starting to show on her face, and I can see it in her eyes.

“How do we get her out?”

“It may be a long process, as she may be institutionalised now and will need weaning off the drugs. But it is possible. We just need to move her away from her current doctor.” Ethan says beside her. I had set him the task of finding out what could be done. I can see the determination in her eyes. She wants to set her auntie free, and I know she isn’t going to stop until she succeeds.

“That has to be everything, right? What else could he have possibly done?”

Ethan and I share a look. Here’s some of the bigger stuff.

“There are a couple of things. Most are simple like the house and everything in it is yours, but Henry had drafted up the paperwork to have you sign it all over to him when you married. It looks like he was going to be trusting the fact you wouldn’t pay attention to anything he placed in front of you.”

“I wouldn’t have. If he asked me to sign something, I would. He was my dad, and I trusted him completely. I never questioned anything he said to me.”

I can see how annoyed she is with herself over that. Now she is seeing what he was really like; she hates that she let him get away with so much.

“That’s not your fault, Baby,” Ethan whispers beside her. “You are a good person; why wouldn’t you trust your father? From babies, we rely on the two people who we are told are our parents. We are told over and over again that they will protect and guide us throughout our lives.”

Verity looks at him for a moment and nods before leaning further into Ryan, who kisses the top of her head.

“You okay, Kitten?”

“I think so.”

“There is one more big thing, but if you need a break.”

“Just tell me, I want to know everything now. Otherwise, I may never hear it all.”

Reaching out, I take her hand to kiss her knuckles.

“Of course, Sweetheart.” I pull out another file and place it on my lap.

“This was in the safe. It contains your mother’s death certificate and some other paperwork of her diagnosis. There was something that stood out.” I pull the paper from the file and hand it to her.

“What am I looking for?”

“Look at the name of the doctor,” Ethan points to the signature. Verity frowns at it for a moment before looking back at him.

“That’s my aunties doctor.”

Ethan nods but quickly holds up a finger.

“Before you jump to anything, we don’t know for certain. There is a chance he and your father became friends whilst he was treating your mother. Everything on record shows your mum had a form of brain cancer. There is no way to know whether these reports are correct or not,” He quickly explains.

“But there’s a chance they aren’t?”

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