Chapter 5 - THE WOMAN WHO WASN'T DEAD
Rebecca Arden was alive.
She was thirty-three years old.
She had spent twelve years moving between private treatment facilities under arrangements controlled by her family's foundation.
Her medical history was complicated.
But investigators found no evidence that she lacked the ability to make her own decisions.
Her continued confinement raised serious legal questions.
Marco arranged for an independent attorney to review her situation.
Elena insisted on meeting Rebecca.
I accompanied them because Frank asked me to.
We drove to a quiet facility outside Boston.
The building looked more like a country hotel than a hospital.
Inside, everything smelled of disinfectant and expensive furniture polish.
A nurse led us into a sunroom.
Rebecca sat beside the window.
She had dark blonde hair and pale blue eyes.
When she saw Elena, she stood.
"Elena?"
Elena stopped.
"You remember me?"
Rebecca nodded.
"Adrian showed me your picture."
Elena's breath caught.
"You knew Adrian?"
Rebecca began crying.
"He tried to help me."
We sat together.
Rebecca explained that years earlier, she'd discovered financial misconduct within the Arden Foundation.
Her older sister Celeste had been using the charity to conceal transfers connected to criminal business associates.
Rebecca threatened to report it.
Soon afterward, she was hospitalized following a severe emotional crisis.
Her family claimed she couldn't manage her affairs.
Celeste gained control over her finances.
Rebecca's attempts to leave were repeatedly blocked through legal and administrative pressure.
Adrian Bell had been one of the few outsiders who questioned the situation.
He'd met Rebecca while responding to a medical emergency at the facility.
Later, he began helping her document what had happened.
Then he disappeared.
Elena stared.
"Where is he?"
Rebecca shook her head.
"I don't know."
Then she looked toward the door.
"Celeste told me he was dead."
Elena began sobbing.
Rebecca reached for her hand.
"But I never believed her."
Marco stood beside the window.
For once, he looked powerless.
His family had been manipulated.
His sister had been isolated.
His father had been humiliated.
And an innocent woman had spent years trapped behind the polished walls of a private institution.
Rebecca turned toward him.
"You're Marco DeLuca."
He nodded.
She studied him.
"Your father tried to help me."
Marco looked up.
"What?"
Rebecca smiled sadly.
"He came here three years ago. Celeste brought him because she wanted him to sign something."
Marco's expression hardened.
"What?"
Rebecca hesitated.
"A statement saying I was incapable of making decisions."
Marco went still.
Rebecca continued.
"He refused."
She looked at me.
"He said he wouldn't lie about a woman he'd never met."
I felt tears rise.
That sounded exactly like Frank.
Rebecca looked back at Marco.
"Celeste was furious."
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Then she whispered:
"After that, she started telling everyone his mind was failing."
