Chapter 9: The Name on the Certificate
The d*ath certificate arrived via Daniel's office on a Thursday afternoon.
Julian read it alone first.
He had asked Daniel to send the scan before their call so he could have sixty seconds with it privately.
The attending physician listed was Dr.
Gerald Harmon.
The witness signature — the second line, the one that confirmed the identification of the body — read: V.
Ashworth.
Victoria's maiden name.
Julian set his phone face-down on the desk.
He sat with that for exactly sixty seconds.
Then he picked it up and called Daniel.
"I saw it," Daniel said immediately.
"V.
Ashworth."
"Yes.
Her maiden name, used on an official hospital document, four years before she legally changed it upon marriage to you." A pause.
"That was not an accident.
That was a choice.
Using the maiden name creates a layer of distance — it's harder to connect automatically to Victoria Sterling.
But it's still her legal signature from that period.
We can verify it against her pre-marriage documents."
"What does it mean for the case?"
"It means she didn't just know," Daniel said.
"It means she was present.
She witnessed the false identification.
She signed her name to a document that declared a living woman d*ad." A pause.
"Julian, that is not a civil matter.
That is a crjminal matter."
Julian was quiet.
"Patricia Osei gave her statement this morning," Daniel continued.
"She confirmed the call to the county office came from a number registered to Sterling Enterprises' administrative line.
We've pulled the call logs — the call was made from Victoria's personal extension at the company.
She had access to that line during the period when you were traveling."
"She used my company's phone to close a missing persons report."
"Yes."
Julian stood and walked to the window.
The city below was doing what it always did — moving, indifferent, enormous.
"What happens now?" he said.
"I've already been in contact with the DA's office.
Given the documentation — the false d*ath certificate, the signed witness line, the call logs, Patricia Osei's testimony, and the hospital records we've now subpoenaed — they are opening a formal investigation." Daniel's voice was careful but clear.
"Victoria's attorney called me an hour ago.
She is prepared to make a full statement in exchange for consideration on the charges.
She has confirmed that Dr.
Harmon was recruited through a private contact — a name she is prepared to provide."
"Who?"
"Her father."
Julian closed his eyes.
Richard Ashworth.
He had never liked Julian.
Had never hidden it.
A man who believed his daughter had married beneath her emotional intelligence, if not her financial station.
"He arranged Harmon?" Julian said.
"According to Victoria's attorney, Richard Ashworth made the introduction and covered Harmon's fee.
Victoria was the one who signed.
She maintains she was told it was a temporary measure — that Elara would be found, the situation would be resolved quietly, and the certificate would be voided." Daniel paused.
"She says she didn't understand it would become permanent."
"Do you believe that?"
"It doesn't matter what I believe.
What matters is that the DA will weigh her cooperation against her culpability.
She signed the document.
That is not erasable." A beat.
"But her father arranged it.
That changes the shape of the prosecution."
Julian turned away from the window.
"Daniel," he said.
"The boys."
"The DNA results came back this morning.
Elara is confirmed as the biological mother.
Combined with the corrected birth records we're filing, her parental rights are legally reinstated effective immediately." A pause, and for the first time in the conversation Daniel's voice softened slightly.
"Julian.
She's their mother.
On paper, now, as she always was in fact."
Julian didn't speak for a moment.
"Tell me when the investigation is formally announced," he said finally.
"I will."
He ended the call.
He walked down the hallway to the sitting room.
Elara was there.
She was standing at the window — the one she used to press her palm against — with both boys asleep on the sofa behind her, Noah's head on Leo's shoulder, a picture book open and forgotten across their laps.
She turned when she heard Julian.
He looked at her for a long moment.
"It's done," he said.
"Not finished.
But done."
She pressed her hand flat against the glass.
The cold came through.
May you like
She didn't say anything.
She didn't need to.
