Chapter 1 - The Signature
I stared at the ink at the bottom of the medical intake form.
It was not written in Tessa’s messy, rushed scrawl.
It was not my mother’s elegant, looping cursive.
The name signed on the authorization line belonged to my fiancé, Liam.
My hands began to tremble so violently that the thin paper rattled in the quiet hospital room.
Dr. Conner watched me with a deeply concerned expression on her face.
She explained that Liam had arrived at the hospital while I was still unconscious in the emergency room.
He had presented himself as my medical proxy and confirmed Tessa’s vicious lies about my mental health.
Liam had told the entire medical staff that I was a hysterical, drug-seeking addict who routinely harmed herself for attention.
I could not understand why the man I was supposed to marry in three months would orchestrate such a monstrous lie.
Dr. Conner gently placed her hand over mine and promised she would help me fight this.
Before I could ask her how to legally revoke his proxy status, the heavy wooden door swung open.
Liam walked into the room carrying a massive bouquet of expensive white lilies.
He wore his perfect, charming smile, but his eyes were completely dead and entirely devoid of warmth.
Dr. Conner immediately stepped between us and demanded to know why he had falsified my medical history.
Liam did not drop his smile as he reached into his tailored jacket pocket.
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He pulled out a thick stack of legal documents bearing the golden seal of a local judge.
He calmly announced that he had just been granted an emergency legal conservatorship over my life, my finances, and my medical care.
