Chapter 7 - THE INSURANCE TRUST
The Reed Family Medical Trust turned out to be both generous and dangerous. It paid for real transplants, surgeries, rehabilitation, and travel. It also rewarded branches that kept expensive care inside the Reed-affiliated network. Michael personally earned $240,000 a year as “family medical strategy coordinator.” His performance credit increased when family care stayed within preferred facilities. If I delivered outside St. Arden, he lost financial credit. Not enough to prove his motive. Enough to matter. Then triplet A developed growth restriction. Michael requested access to a medical conference. I wanted to refuse. Naomi asked me to separate anger from parenting. So I allowed a video conference with my lawyer present. Michael asked intelligent questions. Then, inevitably: “What happens if Lena becomes unconscious?” The doctor explained surrogate hierarchy and existing court restrictions. Michael asked whether he would become primary decision-maker. Naomi answered: “Not over a valid directive.”
I had none. That night, I created one. Primary healthcare proxy: my cousin Jenna Blake. Secondary: an independent patient advocate. No transfer to St. Arden except when medically necessary and independently confirmed. No nonclinical genomic research. No Rebecca. No Michael override. When Michael learned, he was furious. “You chose a cousin over the babies’ father?” “I chose someone who will follow my instructions.” “I would.” “No. You already didn’t.” Silence. Then Grant withdrew from representing Michael in the custody case because he had become a witness. Before stepping away, he disclosed another conflict. Five years earlier, he had worked on Caroline’s St. Arden settlement. He should have recognized the pattern sooner. He did not. Then he gave Naomi private notes from a meeting with Michael. One line read: Client asks whether Judge Harold Ellison can review family continuity issues. Judge Ellison was connected socially to Rebecca. No proof of corruption. But Michael’s second filing had been routed toward the same county where Ellison handled administrative reviews.
Naomi’s face tightened. “If someone tried to steer this case toward a friendly judge, the signature fraud may be only one part of the problem.” Then another fetal deceleration hit. The monitor screamed. And while nurses rushed around me, Naomi received a notification that Michael’s second petition specifically requested administrative assignment to Judge Ellison. The next question was no longer whether Michael had forged my name. It was whether someone had tried to choose the judge too.
