Chapter 6 - Corinne Had Built a False Story Around a Real Woman
When I confronted Corinne with the recovered footage, she still tried to lie.
She said Elena had been unstable.
She claimed she was helping her.
She insisted the transport had taken Elena to “a place where she could calm down.”
“Where?”
Corinne didn’t answer.
“Where?” I repeated.
She lifted her chin and said the most chilling thing of the entire night.
“She wasn’t fit to raise Sadie.”
Not she left.
Not I had no choice.
Not even you don’t understand.
Just naked contempt—toward the missing woman and my daughter both.
That was when I knew the truth was even uglier than simple jealousy.
Warren and my attorney started digging into accounts, phone records, and private invoices connected to Corinne.
By midmorning, the trail surfaced.
Over the past three years, Corinne had been making regular payments through a shell consulting account tied to a secluded private behavioral facility in upstate New York.
The patient name attached to those payments was not Elena Hartwell.
It was Eleanor Hale.
Elena’s maiden name was Eleanor Hartwell.
Corinne had altered just enough to bury her in plain sight.
The payments were monthly.
Ongoing.
Current.
I stared at the records.
Alive.
That was the only word in my head.
If the payments were still being made, Elena might still be alive.
Sadie’s mother had not simply disappeared.
May you like
She had been hidden.
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