"It is only people who trust others who can be taken advantage of, but if you don't believe in the people you love enough to trust them, life is terribly lonely"

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"Jacqui, I had a meeting with Paul Cardacci, my attorney," Kurt told me over the phone a week later. "He and his team would like to meet with you to discuss your options. I believe they will present you with a very interesting plan. Henry will pick you up at eight o’clock Tuesday morning." My spirits were buoyed by the thought that I might soon be getting out of this house.

"I can’t Kurt. Can you arrange for the meeting to be next Tuesday, instead?"

"Why can’t you be there this Tuesday?" he demanded. He was clearly annoyed and wanted to know why I had asked to reschedule such an important meeting.

"Carla has changed the rules," I replied glumly. I think she believes I don't have any options but to obey her or get deportated."

He laughed. "Ist gut. Let her continue to believe that. And just what are the new rules, liebling?" he asked, still chuckling.

"I’m not allowed off the property, except on my days off," I said forlornly. "And if I intend to go out, I must tell Melissa at least one week in advance." I was getting agitated as I thought about the way Carla and Melissa were treating me. "Kurt, things are becoming intolerable for me. They make my situation worse every day." I was feeling desperate.

"Just let her continue to believe that she owns you, Jacqui. It will be over soon. I promise you this."

"Oh, Kurt. It's worse than you think. Being off the property includes seeing you, and I can only do it on my scheduled day off," I whined.

There was a long pause before he spoke again. "She forgets quickly what I might do. I will talk to her and I will see you on Tuesday."

"Kurt, promise me you won't make her angry."

"Very well, I will call Paul and let him make arrangements. I will call you later today or in the morning." I hung up the phone and returned to doing my chores. Even though it seemed as if Kurt was finally going to rescue me, I was more dispirited than ever.

I told Melissa that Kurt wanted to see Tuesday and, as expected, she informed Carla.

"Jacqui, the First Girl told me that you wish to go out this coming Tuesday to go shopping with Mr. Mark," Carla said while I served her dinner that evening.

I bobbed a small curtsey and said, "Yes, mum."

"Very well, since it’s only shopping and not a date with Mr. Mark, it will not be necessary for your chastity belt to be off." She was smirking, daring me to give some indication that I had lied or not told the complete truth. I had to swallow my anger.

"Of course, mum," I said very slowly, emphasizing the 'course'. It took a lot of effort to smile. ‘You’ll get yours, Carla!’

"What do you intend to wear? From now on, I’m requiring you to tell me exactly what you will be wearing when you go out." Carla was doing everything she could to intensify her control over me and to dominate the defenseless immigrant she’d been kind enough to hire.

"One of my cheongsams. Does it matter which, mum? I’ll also wear my leather cape. It's cold out." It pleased Carla when I dressed Chinese, instead of wearing Western styles. I'm sure she thought of it as another way to reinforce the role she had forced me into. I was half surprised she hadn't also forced me to learn to speak Chinese yet.

"Yes, that will do nicely. Wear the beret and a veil too.

"Melissa, since I’ll be at work, make sure the maid dresses just as she has said." Carla began to eat, but she wasn’t through tormenting me just yet. "I think that her black net stockings and those cute ankle strapped pumps would go nicely; the new ones with the high heels." Carla was looking at me with her eyes narrowed. She’d like nothing better than for me to protest.

"If she doesn’t like that, she can wear her airport slut outfit again, Melissa. See to it!" Carla was dead serious.

"Yes, mum," Melissa, acknowledged with a joyful giggle. "She’ll look just like the cheap slut she is, either way."

Melissa and I dressed together on Tuesday morning. She was preparing to go on duty and I was getting ready to go see my lawyer. I only hoped that I wouldn't be arrested for prostitution before I got there. As I dressed, Melissa tried every way she could to upset me.

"Start on your makeup, Jacqui. Here," she handed me a small plastic box, "you're wearing false eyelashes when you go out today. Ms. Martin wants you to look your best. I’ll get your new shoes while you put them on."

Once she’d slipped the pumps on my feet, I didn’t need to measure to know that they had more than six-inch heels. Not only that, the new shoes had two locks through each ankle strap. Melissa giggled when she snapped them closed. She had really come to enjoy demeaning and tormenting me. I couldn't believe I had once liked her and thought she was my friend. If I hadn't lived through it, I would never have been able to believe that people could be as duplicitous as she and Carla had turned out to be.

Carla came in while I was still getting dressed. "I’ll not mind if you wish to earn some extra shopping money while you're out today, Jacqui. Will a dozen do?" Carla pressed a box of condoms into my hand, "Watch that you don’t ruin your stockings when you kneel down," she laughed in my face. She was still laughing as she made her way out to the garage.

‘You’ll get yours, bitch!’ I vowed yet again.

I took a deep breath to calm myself as I stepped into the elegant lobby of the lawyers' building. "I’m Jacqui Chang. I have an appointment with Mr. Cardacci," I said to the receptionist. I was shaking and felt humiliated by the way she looked up at me, first surprised by my squeaky voice and then startled at the way I looked. A homeless man in rags would have been looked more appropriate in these sedate law offices than I did. The only thing about me that didn’t shout, 'hooker,' was my cheongsam, which although tight, did cover me rather completely.

"Yes, Miss Chang." After her initial surprise, the receptionist, obviously a consummate professional, treated me with the same non-judgmental, friendliness that Henry normally did. It was as if handling clients who sounded like Betty Boop (I had managed to lower my voice a little — I no longer sounded like Betty Boop on helium) and dressed like hookers was an everyday occurrence. "They're waiting for you in the conference room. This way please?" Henry, who’d accompanied me inside, sat in the lobby to wait. The Rolls was sitting out front.

I was shaking like a terrified rabbit when she knocked and opened the door.

"Miss Chang has arrived."

I wanted to run into Kurt’s arms when he rose to greet me, but between the tight dress and the ultra high heels, all I could manage was a quick mince that included lots of hip swing. I'll bet the men just ate that up, I thought to myself as he first hugged me tightly and then gave me a quick kiss. After removing my cape and handing it to the receptionist, he took both my hands and said, "So, I see Carla is still dressing you. She really does have horrible taste." I nodded.

Then he turned to the people assembled in the room. "As you can see," he said, gesturing to me, "Ms. Martin takes routine pleasure in humiliating Jacqui. This must end." He patted me on the hand and pointed to the seat next to his before pulling it out for me.

I sat, and the receptionist placed a tea service before me. Not a word had been said until I thanked her for pouring me a cup and fixing it as I requested.

"Gentlemen, Ms. Fukes, let me introduce my friend, Jacqui Lian Chang," Kurt said proudly.

"Jacqui, Paul Cardacci, Adrian Stele, Joanne Fukes." He nodded at each and they rose to shake my hand as he introduced them. My papers, along with about three boxes of other stuff were arranged on the table.

Mr. Cardacci began, "Miss Chang…"

"Just Jacqui, please?" I interrupted.

"Jacqui," he started over with a nod to indicate he understood, "you know what we have here." Paul placed his hand on the medical folder. "Mr. Mark has told you about your passport and visa. Before we get on to other matters, do you have any questions regarding why we recommended you keep it and use it?"

"Only …" I paused to compose my thoughts. Paul Cardacci was one of those people who quickly made you feel comfortable. "What if something happened to cause the authorities to check up on the real background of Jacqui Chang in Hong Kong, Mr. Cardacci?" He smiled at me.

"Paul. Please, Jacqui?" I nodded my acceptance. "To answer your question," he went on, "we already have."

Adrian Stele picked up the conversation. "I’m retired from the CIA and own an international investigation firm. We checked you out."

I was so surprised, I could feel my eyebrows lift and my eyes open. "What do you mean, 'checked me out'?" I asked. "I thought I was a fake."

"No," Stele went on, "there actually was a Jacqui Lian Chang, born in Hong Kong in April of seventy-nine." He laughed, "Not every girl is lucky enough to knock eleven years off her age, just like that." I felt a little stupid. Although I’d looked at my passport a hundred times since Carla had given it to me, the birth date on it just hadn't registered.

"Records indicate that the other Miss Chang flew to YVR, sorry, Vancouver International Airport, last March. Three days later, she cleared US Customs and Immigration at JFK. From there, her trail is ice cold."

Paul resumed, "At first, we thought the passport was a forgery. Apparently, it is not, Jacqui — it is quite real.

"We checked other things and discovered some very interesting facts surrounding Miss Chang." Now it was Joanne Fukes' turn. "Ms. Martin, the former Mrs. Carla Ingram, has been planning this for some time."

"Excuse me, 'the former Mrs. Carla Ingram', J … Joanne?" I stared at Kurt and he smiled.

"I only learned of this part this morning, liebling." He patted my hand and smiled at me.

Joanne passed me some papers that bore embossed seals. The one on top was a divorce decree from a Nevada court and the other the approval to legally change her name. Our divorce had been finalized in March and the name change in April. I was in shock.

"Six months is the statutory waiting period in Nevada. Jacqui, Mr. Mark has made us aware of the significance of early September of last year," she said. Despite my surprise, I began to get so angry I started to tremble.

I could only stutter, "But … but…"

Kurt took hold of my hand and squeezed it gently. "Be calm, liebling. Your turn will come very soon ... very soon, I assure you."

"But this means she planned the whole thing a year ago," I shouted. It was a pitiful high-pitched sound. "She was lying to me the whole time! How could she?" I buried my face in my hands and started to weep. Kurt put his arm around my shoulder and held me. I sat up a few moments later, tears still running down my face. I wiped at them with the back of my hand."

"She said she loved me. I trusted her. How could I have been so stupid?" I started bawling again. I felt like a total fool, completely humiliated by my lack of insight and awareness.

Kurt somehow acquired some tissues and gave them to me. When I looked up at him, he started to wipe my eyes, while cooing comforting words to me. Again, I sat up after blowing my nose and wiping more mascara from my cheeks, I said. "I'm sorry, I just had no idea," which almost started me crying again. All the lawyers nodded their understanding, while I gulped in air to calm myself.

"Jacqui, we do not know what happened to the original Miss Chang yet," Adrian was speaking again. "And we can't rule out foul play. That is a police matter."

"Ms. Martin paid for her ticket on Air Canada with a credit card. She indeed sponsored her in this country and immigration records show her current address to be the same as yours."

"Oh," his face lit up as he dug in his pocket, "You might like to have this." Adrian handed me a laminated card.

"Her drivers license!" I squeaked. The picture bore only a faint resemblance to me. This time, I carefully checked the date and other data. It was a New Jersey license, issued in March.

"Where did you find this?"

"One of my operatives found it while snooping around the property." He grinned at me. "We hired Emilio to keep an eye on things as soon as Kurt called us. He’s sorry that he couldn't give it to you, but his instructions were to give it to us in any case."

"Carla built a nearly air-tight trap, Jacqui, except for these." Paul opened a new file. "These are records we subpoenaed from the hospital in New York City where one John Ingram, a.k.a., Jacqui Chang, had breast enlargement, facial and throat surgery." He set the pile aside. "These are from the other facility, which performed your reassignment surgery. And, just to complete the picture, we have these impressive forgeries — you mental health records. Adrian’s people have gathered a ton of evidence to disprove their authenticity. It seems that another Jacqui," he looked at his notes, "one Jacqui Marshall had the same surgery the week after you did in the same hospital. They found her and interviewed her. She is the Jacqui in all the therapists' reports. Ms. Martin bribed Ms. Marshall, who could not afford SRS on her own, to act as her transsexual husband."

I was goggle-eyed at all these revelations. I just kept shaking my head from side to side because I couldn't believe the magnitude of Carla's scheming. It might even include murder!

"Jacqui?" Paul turned quiet and spoke to me in measured tones. "We have still more, but we don't have to go over all the details, unless you wish us to. Suffice it to say, that the financial records at the company have been tampered with. We have approached, on your behalf, some of the individuals involved and have reached an ‘understanding’ with them," Paul winked as he said that. Obviously, all the cards were not yet face up on the table.

He reinforced my unspoken metaphor. "In short Jacqui, Carla's been dealing from a stacked deck." Paul smiled broadly, indicating his satisfaction.

"I think I understand," I squeaked, ashamed of my voice, but unable to change it. "Where do I go from here?"

"First, we highly recommend that you get out of the Martin residence as soon as possible, Jacqui," Joanne said." I mean immediately," she reiterated.

I looked to Kurt for guidance. He nodded and said, "You'll move into my house today.

"Then what?" I asked.

"Let me summarize first," Paul went on. "Please be patient."

"First, did John ever have his fingerprints taken and are they on file somewhere?"

"Yes, but it was a long time ago," I said. "In high school we took a field trip to the local State Troopers' barracks to learn what they did." When I finished, Adrian excused himself for a moment and went to a telephone at the end of the room.

Of course, how silly of me, I thought. Carla couldn't deport someone with John Ingram's fingerprints, even if she had succeeded in forcing him to be Jacqui Chang. Then I realized that Jacqui Chang wouldn't have XY chromosomes either. Carla had me so scared and so far off balance that I hadn't even thought to analyze my situation. The only problem was, I was so distraught and emotionally drained, I wasn't sure I could think straight any more.

"We believe that we’ve assembled more than enough evidence to have the INS, FBI, the IRS, State and local police as well other agencies investigate, and almost certainly file charges. Right now, I'd guess that they would suspect that the other Miss Chang has been murdered. In any event, our recommendation to you is to not get them involved at this stage. There is no statute of limitations on murder or certain immigration violations.

"Those aside," Paul touched my psychiatric folder, "forgery on numerous counts is sufficient, by itself, to convict Ms. Martin and put her in prison for a good number of years. We can add in a salad of civil matters, if you’d like."

"What I’d like," I said, trying to stay calm, "is to be rid of her forever and … and get my fair share of my assets back."

"Ahem," Joanne cleared her throat, "There is a problem there, Jacqui."

"What?" I was suddenly afraid. "What problem?"

"Apparently both Ms. Martin and your former lawyer had the appropriate legal powers of attorney to control your finances. Your current assets are relatively safe, but we are going to have to fight to regain control of them if Ms. Martin refuses to cooperate.

"Worst case scenario, they might not be accessible to you until you reach age fifty."

"There is also a Catch-22, Jacqui," Paul took over. "The assets are in John Ingram’s name. You cannot be both John Ingram and Jacqui Chang." I'm sure we can convince Ms. Martin and her lawyer that it is in their best interests, shall we say, to turn them over to you. Considering the potential criminal sanctions you could expose them to, they would be fools not to do anything you ask."

I again started to cry, perhaps because I was so relieved, I don't know. In any case, I couldn’t continue. Kurt thanked everyone and the meeting broke up. Henry drove us to Kurt’s house.

It was dark when I awoke with a start. I remembered Kurt carrying me inside but that was all. I had no idea where I was or how I’d gotten there. When a hand touched my forearm, I shrieked.

"You are safe, Jacqui," a kind sounding woman said. "You are in Mr. Mark’s home. I’m Anna, the cook. Mr. Mark asked me to sit with you." I'm going to turn the light on.

I found myself in a comfortable room. The furniture looked to be antique and the chintz curtains over the two windows were drawn closed. I was wearing a clean satin nightgown and my clothes were folded neatly on a bureau. As I awoke, I realized that I was free of my corset, but the hated chastity belt was still in place. My shoes were gone too. They were sitting on a dresser next to a pair of bolt cutters.

"Mr. Mark will be back shortly with some other clothes for you." I'm sure you'll find them rather more comfortable than," and she looked over at the pile of my clothes with a look of disdain, "those."

Anna picked up the cheongsam and examined it closely. "But this is quite lovely, the hand embroidery is just exquisite. It must have cost a fortune," she said turning to me.

"I did it myself," I replied softly.

"Oh my," was all she could say. I could tell from her voice that she was impressed.

Anna brought me some tea and drew a bath for me. By the time Kurt got back, I was sitting in a comfortable armchair thinking about my life.

"Oh good, you're awake," he said, obviously happy to see me looking so well. He came over and kissed me on the forehead. "Feeling better?" he asked gently.

I nodded shyly. "Kurt, I can't believe what a fool I've been. I participated fully in Carla's efforts to destroy and debase me."

"No, no, my little Jacqui," he replied, his voice still soft and soothing. He turned and sat on the bed, placing a pile of clothing bags next to him. "You are not such a fool as you think. Carla acted very deviously while you thought she was trying to help you. It is only people who trust others who can be taken advantage of, but if you don't believe in the people you love enough to trust them, life is terribly lonely. Please don't let Carla's betrayal harden your heart."

I nodded, but said nothing. My brain understood what Kurt was saying, but my heart was still telling me that I was a ridiculous fool.

Kurt wasn't going to let me sulk; he brightened and said, "I've brought you some new clothes for dinner, some things rather different than your usual attire." He drew an elegant emerald green pants suit of the softest silk from one of the bags. The top opened in front and closed with just one button and a sash. It was heavily shirred and would de-emphasize the size of my bust, although I just knew it would drape over them exquisitely. I had to giggle when I saw the pants.

"Kurt, except when I went to Kennedy, I haven't worn pants since last April. I hope I remember how."

"I'm sure you'll think of something, liebling," he said as he sat watching me.

I quickly put on the pretty black bra that came from another bag. Although it was of the softest fabric, with lace panels, the bra was full cut and supplied welcome support. Instead of panties, there was a pair of matching tap pants, which fit easily over my chastity belt. I thought they looked really sexy as the lacy hem fluttered around the bottom curve of my ass.

Kurt had brought both stockings and pantyhose and I decided that stockings would be perfect with the tap pants. Besides, pantyhose and chastity belts didn’t go well together. Thankfully, the stockings he’d selected had elastic tops so they could be worn without a garter belt, which he hadn't thought of. The shoes were open-toed sandals with only three and a half inch heels.

"I hope I can walk in something so low," I joked to Kurt as I finished putting them on, buckled their delicate straps and stood. I hated open toed shoes, but Kurt was trying so hard, I certainly wasn't going to complain. At least they were sandals, which were far preferable to open-toed pumps. I hated them, especially; they were just ugly.

When I started to stand, Kurt rushed over to ‘help’ me.

"Wait," he said. "You are not yet completely dressed." I was confused, but sat back down on the bed. As I did, Kurt withdrew the ring box from his pocket. Taking my left hand, he smiled at me and said, "My intention is that you will never have to take this off again," as he slipped the diamond engagement ring onto my finger.

I thought I was going to cry again, but Kurt said, "Wait, don't cry yet. I'm not finished," which made me giggle. Then he put the smaller three-stone ring onto my right hand. Smiling at me he teased, "Okay, you can cry now if you want."

"Oh Kurt," I whimpered, "I'm feeling better than I can ever remember." I threw myself at him and draped my arms over his shoulders, while I wiggled in close to his body. I loved the fact that I was shorter than him and tilted my head to look up into his eyes. He took the opportunity to kiss me. I kissed him back as lovingly as I could.

"My hero," I whispered after we broke for the first time. "You've rescued me from my nightmare. I'll always owe you for that."

"Oh, hush, Jacqui," he replied. Our faces remained close. "You don't owe me anything. It is I who owe you, for filling the life of a lonely old man with joy."

I couldn't take it. I lunged back in for another kiss before I started to cry again.

That night we slept curled up together for the first time ever.

End of Part X