Chapter 8 - WHY IMOGEN NEEDED THE WEDDING FIRST
Imogen’s financial plan surfaced through drafts.
Not signed.
Not completed.
But clear.
She expected to marry Stellan on November 18.
The Twin Provision remained dormant because only Dulcie was legally acknowledged.
After marriage, Imogen would become presumptive emergency guardian under Stellan’s then-current estate plan if he died or became incapacitated.
Not permanent.
But enough to manage certain descendant holdings pending court review.
If Maeve remained hidden, Dulcie’s branch controlled the full descendant block.
If Maeve appeared later, Imogen could position herself as the adult managing “reunification” and trust restructuring.
Her lawyers had even drafted a family consolidation proposal.
Grace dropped it onto Stellan’s desk.
“She created the problem and wrote herself into the solution.”
Again.
“What did she gain?”
“Interim voting authority over roughly ninety million in assets.”
“For how long?”
“Potentially months.”
“Enough.”
“Yes.”
Consulting arrangements inside the proposal would also pay firms connected to Imogen more than three million.
Not merely control.
Money.
Then Stellan saw something worse.
A psychological memo.
Not from a real therapist treating Dulcie.
A private consultant analyzing “child adjustment risks.”
Recommendations:
Consider residential school if stepfamily integration becomes unstable.
Stellan stared.
“She planned to send Dulcie away.”
Grace corrected:
“She explored the option.”
“Same thing.”
“Not legally.”
Fine.
But emotionally?
Close enough.
Emails:
Imogen:
Dulcie is attached to Elena’s memory in an unhealthy way.
Consultant:
Has she been evaluated?
Imogen:
No. Stellan refuses to see it.
Stellan had never been asked.
Imogen continued:
Boarding structure may help once marriage is formal.
She planned Dulcie’s removal without discussing it with the father or child.
The kennel became symbolic.
Imogen wanted control over space.
Who sat at table.
Who lived in house.
Who counted as family.
The “other girl” threatened that plan even more.
Two daughters tied to Elena.
Two trusts.
Two witnesses to a family history Imogen wanted rewritten.
Then investigators found a message between Imogen and her private investigator.
PI:
Maeve is attached to guardian. Extraction would be difficult.
Imogen:
I am not asking you to extract her.
Good.
No kidnapping plot.
Then:
Imogen:
I need her located and quiet until after marriage.
There.
The private investigator responded:
How?
Imogen:
Leave that to me.
What did she do?
She contacted Claire Hale through a fake family-law consultant.
Claimed Stellan knew about Maeve.
Claimed he wanted no contact until wedding.
Claimed disclosure might destabilize Dulcie.
Claire believed enough to keep distance.
Again:
Imogen weaponized everyone’s fear.
To Maeve:
Your father chose Dulcie.
To Dulcie:
Another girl could replace you.
To Claire:
Contact could hurt Dulcie.
To Stellan:
Nothing.
Keep the central man ignorant while managing women and children around him.
Efficient.
Cruel.
When confronted through attorneys, Imogen admitted part.
“I was trying to prevent chaos.”
Stellan almost laughed.
Grace did for him.
Imogen continued:
“If Maeve suddenly appeared, Dulcie would have been devastated.”
“So you told both girls the other might reject them?”
No answer.
“What was the kennel for?”
Imogen’s face changed.
“I lost control.”
Specific.
Good.
“She entered my room.”
“She was looking for Elena’s necklace.”
“I had it because it matched Maeve’s.”
“Why?”
“I wanted to compare.”
“You could have photographed it.”
Silence.
She had taken Dulcie’s necklace because it was evidence.
Then kept it.
When Dulcie searched, Imogen panicked.
Put her in kennel.
Not part of strategy.
A moment of cruelty exposed the entire scheme.
Stellan said:
“You built eight months of manipulation and lost it because an eight-year-old wanted her mother’s necklace.”
Imogen began crying.
He felt nothing useful from that.
Then she said:
“I loved you.”
Stellan looked at her.
“Maybe.”
“You don’t believe me?”
“I believe people can love badly.”
She flinched.
“I thought if I could control the transition—”
“There.”
He interrupted.
“Control.”
Silence.
“That is what you wanted more than a family.”
Imogen looked down.
The engagement was truly dead then.
Not at the kennel.
Not at the slap.
May you like
At the word control.
Because both finally understood what she had been building.
