He keeps asking about the settlement. I tell him it’s supposed to be decided soon and then we’ll get the money. I know once this baby is born, he’ll be so excited he’ll forget all about that and will even stop talking about going to Arizona to see his kids.
You can really do shit around here since there’s no bad weather. And organic products—they’re fucking everywhere.
I know I’ll be able to feed this child all the right things from the start—like a good mommy should.
Acknowledgments
It’s astounding what it takes to pull a book together. I am incredibly grateful to the legions of passionate partners who championed The Perfect Fraud along its path:
To Molly Friedrich, Lucy Carson, Heather Carr, and the team at the Friedrich Agency, for your unfailing advocacy, honesty, and guidance and the fact that my characters and story traveled all the way to Italy with you for Lucy’s nuptials. And Molly . . . I will forever be apologizing for not sending the manuscript to you first. Obviously, I’ll never make that mistake again. You are magnificent!
To Sara Nelson, Mary Gaule, Leah Wasielewski, Heather Drucker, Stephanie Cooper, and everyone at HarperCollins. What a wonderful, collegial group you are. From our first lunch, I knew Sara was the perfect editor for me. Thank you for your fantastic ideas and support through this exciting process.
To my family, whose enthusiasm made a phenomenal thing even more so. It’s a privilege and a joy to be able to share wonderful news with people who care and have always been rooting for you. I’m especially grateful to Dean LaCorte, who reminded me it takes grit to make something happen; to Sophia LaCorte, for alternate endings; and to Summer Segal, for her expertise in genetics.
To Dr. David Nicklin for providing medical background information and to Anna Tobia for helping me uncover and release the stories. To the many psychics and mediums I saw who provided background for this novel, any mistakes in card readings and interpretations are mine.
To my fantastic beta and first readers in the Philadelphia Writer’s Group and particularly to Julie Mount, Julie Rea, and Dawn Kane—thank you for reading every word. My love and gratitude to Bobbie Cassano and Lynn Schindel who provided valuable feedback but also, always, their affection, laughter, and encouragement.
Finally, to my husband, Michael, our sons, Chris and Nick; our daughters-in-law, Roxie and Mags; and to our lovely granddaughter, Amelia. Without you, there are no tales worth telling. I love you all and thank you, thank you, thank you for helping me to believe it was possible.
About the Author
ELLEN LACORTE worked for many years in HR. She now writes full-time from her home in Titusville, New Jersey, where she lives with her husband. They are the parents of two grown sons.
Discover great authors, exclusive offers, and more at hc.com.
Copyright
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
THE PERFECT FRAUD. Copyright © 2019 by Ellen LaCorte. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
FIRST EDITION
Cover design by Robin Bilardello
Cover photograph © A.L. Canterbury/Getty Images (main image); © Roberto Castillo/Shutterstock (spine illustration)
Digital Edition JUNE 2019 ISBN: 978-0-06-290609-0
Version 05102019
Print ISBN: 978-0-06-290607-6
About the Publisher
Australia
HarperCollins Publishers Australia Pty. Ltd.
Level 13, 201 Elizabeth Street
Sydney, NSW 2000, Australia
www.harpercollins.com.au
Canada
HarperCollins Publishers Ltd
Bay Adelaide Centre, East Tower
22 Adelaide Street West, 41st Floor
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
M5H 4E3
www.harpercollins.ca
India
HarperCollins India
A 75, Sector 57
Noida
Uttar Pradesh 201 301
www.harpercollins.co.in
New Zealand
HarperCollins Publishers New Zealand
Unit D1, 63 Apollo Drive
Rosedale 0632
Auckland, New Zealand
www.harpercollins.co.nz
United Kingdom
HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.
1 London Bridge Street
London SE1 9GF, UK
www.harpercollins.co.uk
United States
HarperCollins Publishers Inc.
195 Broadway
New York, NY 10007
www.harpercollins.com
The Perfect Fraud Page 27