Chapter 5 - The Homecoming at Maple RidgeWhen Claire arrived back at the house, a police cruiser and an emergency medical services van were already parked in the driveway. Neighbors stood on their front lawns, whispering and watching as paramedics wheeled an elderly woman out on a stretcher.
Eleanor looked pale, weak, and terrified.
Claire rushed past the police tape, immediately grabbing the hand of the paramedic in charge. "Is she alright?"
"Her blood sugar had plummeted dangerously low, and she was severely dehydrated," the paramedic replied, securing the oxygen mask over Eleanor's face. "If we had delayed another two hours, organ failure would have set in. Who was supposed to be caring for her?"
"Her son," Claire said bitterly. "My husband."
An officer approached Claire, notepad in hand. "Ms. Bennett? Officer Hayes. We checked the security cameras and spoke with the neighbor across the street. We also found the medical logs in the kitchen that your husband forged. We've issued an alert for his vehicle. He’s going to face criminal charges for reckless endangerment of a vulnerable adult and grand larceny."
"Thank you, Officer," Claire said, her voice trembling as the adrenaline began to fade, leaving behind a hollow ache in her chest.
She climbed into the back of the ambulance to ride with Eleanor to the hospital. As the vehicle pulled away from the curb, Claire looked out the back window at her small, modest home—the house her parents had left her, now tied up in a fraudulent bank loan designed to fund her husband's betrayal.
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For the next three days, Claire lived between the hospital room and police interrogation rooms. Eleanor slowly regained her strength under proper medical care. To Claire's surprise, when the elderly woman finally regained her voice, she didn't defend her son.
Instead, gripping Claire’s hand with her frail, shaking fingers, Eleanor whispered, "I was blind, Claire... He's a monster. Take everything from him. Don't leave him a single cent."
