Chapter 4 - The Stanford Ally
We needed to secure Ethan's future before we could focus on destroying Rebecca's criminal empire.
I dialed the admissions office at Stanford University again, praying that Mrs. Higgins was still at her desk.
She answered on the first ring, clearly anticipating our follow-up call.
"Claire, I have been speaking with the university's legal department all morning," Mrs. Higgins said immediately.
"We want to help Ethan, but our hands are legally tied by the court order."
"The court order is completely fraudulent, Mrs. Higgins," I explained, keeping my voice remarkably steady.
"His stepmother forged medical records to declare him incompetent so she could steal hundreds of thousands of dollars in his name."
There was a long, stunned silence on the other end of the line as the admissions officer processed the horrific truth.
"Do you have concrete proof of this financial fraud?" she finally asked.
"We have a federal fraud investigator pulling the bank records as we speak," Ethan chimed in, leaning close to the microphone.
"Mrs. Higgins, I have worked my entire life for this scholarship."
"I have a 4.2 GPA, I volunteer at the community center, and I am entirely capable of attending this university."
I could hear the distinct sound of Mrs. Higgins typing rapidly on her keyboard once again.
"Here is what we are going to do," the woman said, her tone shifting from bureaucratic to fiercely protective.
"I am officially placing a sixty-day administrative hold on Ethan's admission and his financial aid package."
"This means nobody, not even a court-appointed guardian, can decline the offer or access the funds during this window."
"You have exactly sixty days to get that guardianship revoked by a judge."
"If you can bring me a clean legal status by August, his spot in the freshman class is entirely guaranteed."
"Thank you," Ethan breathed out, tears of genuine relief welling up in his eyes.
"Don't thank me yet," Mrs. Higgins warned gently.
"You need to take these documents to the police right now, before your stepmother realizes you know her endgame."
We ended the call, and I looked at Ethan with a new sense of fierce determination.
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We had a timeline, we had a motive, and we had an incredibly powerful ally.
Now, it was time to go on the offensive.
