My Husband Divorced Me While I Was Unconscious After Giving Birth to Triplets — Then My Brother Uncovered His Fraud at the Town Assembly
The air in the Oakhaven parish church crypt was thick with the scent of damp earth and old parchment. Shadows danced in the flickering candlelight held by the vicar, Father Michael, a kind man who had known our family for decades.
Gideon stood beside him, a heavy leather-bound ledger open on a stone slab. Its pages were filled with careful, looping script, recording the births, marriages, and deaths of Oakhaven’s residents for generations.
“You’re quite certain about the urgency, Gideon?” Father Michael whispered, his breath misting in the cold air. “A burial record, at this hour?”
Gideon nodded, his face etched with a quiet intensity. “It’s for Clara, Father. For her peace of mind. She’s struggling to remember certain dates.”
It wasn’t a lie, not entirely. Clara truly was struggling.
The vicar, bless his trusting heart, had agreed to open the vault. He ran a finger down the entries for the year 1781. “Ah, here we are. August. A particularly bad summer for the elderly, if I recall.”
Gideon leaned closer, his eyes scanning the page. The vicar’s finger stopped.
“Finch, Tobias,” Father Michael read aloud, his voice soft. “Buried August 12th, 1781. A true servant of the parish, he was. Always meticulous with his notary duties.”
The date hung in the air, heavy and undeniable. August 12th.
Gideon felt a surge of cold fury, quickly followed by a grim satisfaction. Tobias Finch had been buried two full months before October 14th, 1781—the date Master Crane had so carelessly mentioned at the tavern as the signing of Gabriel’s power of attorney.
A dead man could not witness a document.
“Thank you, Father,” Gideon said, his voice surprisingly steady. He gently closed the heavy ledger. “This will be a great comfort to Clara.”
He offered a small, grateful bow. The vicar, sensing the gravity but not the true implications, simply nodded sadly.
As they emerged from the crypt, the moonlight seemed to illuminate Gideon’s path. He clutched the newfound knowledge like a weapon. Gabriel’s entire claim, his carefully constructed lie, rested on a signature from a man already in his grave.
This was more than a mere deception. This was an outright forgery, a crime against the law, against the memory of Tobias Finch, and a direct assault on Clara’s reputation and inheritance. Gideon knew exactly what he had to do. He would not confront Gabriel yet. He needed to prepare, to gather more. The time for quiet observation was over. The time for justice was coming.
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