Chapter 5 - THE COMPETENCY TRAP
Dr. Malcolm Hayes introduced himself as a forensic psychiatrist.
Victoria disliked him immediately because he looked apologetic before saying anything.
“Mrs. Mercer, I’ve been retained to evaluate concerns about your cognitive condition after the fall.”
Victoria stared at Serena.
“You brought a psychiatrist into my house.”
Serena folded her arms.
“Our house.”
Elias stepped forward.
“Not according to the will.”
Serena ignored him.
Dr. Hayes said:
“The court authorized a preliminary examination.”
Richard appeared behind them.
“No private examination.”
Serena smiled.
“Why? Afraid she’ll fail?”
Victoria looked at Richard.
He nodded.
The order was real.
Serena had filed the competency petition at dawn.
Supported by:
hospital confusion notes,
medication history,
two staff affidavits,
and video of Victoria wandering the west hallway at 3 a.m. weeks before Charles died.
Victoria frowned.
“I was looking for Charles.”
The housekeeper’s statement claimed Victoria asked where she was.
Another said Victoria forgot a dinner meeting.
Tiny moments.
Normal moments.
Reframed.
Serena had been documenting them.
For months.
Richard whispered:
“She was preparing before Charles died.”
Victoria understood.
The fall had not created the competency strategy.
It accelerated it.
Dr. Hayes conducted the exam with Richard present.
Victoria passed most questions.
Date.
Place.
Memory.
Sequence.
Judgment.
Then he asked:
“Did your husband have a secret son?”
“Yes.”
“Did you know before his death?”
“Three days before.”
“Do you believe Serena caused your fall?”
Victoria paused.
“I believe someone turned off the hall lights and moved the handrail runner.”
“Evidence?”
“Not yet.”
Dr. Hayes wrote.
Serena smiled.
Victoria noticed.
The trap.
If she sounded too certain, paranoia.
Too uncertain, confusion.
Too emotional, instability.
She changed tactics.
“I am not asking you to believe me.”
Dr. Hayes looked up.
“I’m asking you to document that I know the difference between suspicion and proof.”
His pen stopped.
Richard almost smiled.
Serena did not.
After the evaluation, they returned to the west wing envelope.
Richard insisted all three named people be present.
Serena agreed.
Because she believed whatever was inside would help her.
Victoria opened it.
Three documents.
One for each.
Serena’s read first.
Daughter,
You spent your life believing inheritance is proof of love. That is partly my fault.
Serena’s face hardened.
Next:
I protected you from consequences until you began believing consequences were persecution.
Serena threw the page down.
“Manipulative bastard.”
Elias read his.
Son,
You spent your life believing rejection made you freer than acceptance. That is partly my fault too.
Elias’s jaw tightened.
Victoria opened hers.
Victoria,
You believed marrying me meant you could fix what I broke before you arrived. That was your arrogance.
She almost laughed.
Charles had insulted all of them evenly.
Then the final shared page:
The person who controls Mercer Holdings after ninety days must identify who stole $38 million from the company over six years.
Everyone froze.
Serena looked at Elias.
He looked at Richard.
Richard had gone pale.
Charles continued:
If the theft is not identified and recovered, the company will default on covenant obligations and be sold.
Victoria whispered:
“He left them a company with a bomb inside it.”
Richard nodded.
Then Serena smiled.
“Good.”
Everyone looked at her.
May you like
She leaned toward Elias.
“Let’s see how long the homeless heir lasts now.”
