“No, Cathy. They knew she had needs. They decided that meant her future could be arranged without her.”
He gestured toward the contract.
“They offered me money to marry her, take legal guardianship, and remove the responsibility from them.”
I looked down at the pages.
“You agreed.”
“I agreed to marry Rosie because I loved her.”
“That does not explain why you signed this.”
“If I refused, they were going to move forward with the facility.”
“You could have told me.”
“They threatened to stop me from seeing her.”
“She was an adult.”
“They controlled her trust. Her transportation. Her appointments. Her access to legal advice. They had spent years convincing everyone that Rosie could not make major decisions without them.”
My hands began shaking.
“I signed because it bought us time.”
Ben wiped his face.
“I used their agreement to get access to the legal documents. Then I helped Rosie obtain an independent capacity evaluation and her own attorney.”
I looked at him.
“Rosie knew?”
“Not at first.”
The answer reignited my anger.
“You lied to her.”
“For one year.”
His voice broke.
“And I hated myself every day.”
“What happened when you told her?”
“She cried.”
Ben smiled faintly through his tears.
“Then she yelled at me for almost an hour.”
Despite everything, that sounded exactly like my sister.
“She said everyone had spent her entire life making plans around her instead of asking what she wanted.”
