Chapter 6 - THE FAMILY LEDGER
Nathan drove down that evening.
He arrived at the hotel looking ten years older than he had during our last video call.
The moment he saw me, he hugged me.
Then he apologized.
I stepped back.
“For what?”
“For not asking questions.”
We sat near the hotel lobby windows while Skylar watched a movie upstairs with Rebecca’s teenage daughter.
Nathan explained everything.
Three years earlier, his construction business nearly collapsed after a client refused to pay a major invoice.
He needed money quickly.
He was too embarrassed to ask me.
Somehow, Gertrude learned about it.
“She called me,” he said.
“She said Brandon had told her.”
I stared at him.
“Brandon knew?”
Nathan nodded.
“She said you didn’t need to know because you were already stressed.”
I felt sick.
Gertrude had transferred him $90,000.
Then she spent the next three years reminding him what she had done.
Holiday dinners.
Birthday calls.
Family gatherings.
Always casually.
Always in front of other people.
Nathan assumed she wanted gratitude.
Now we knew she wanted obedience.
“She asked me to sign something last year,” he admitted.
My stomach tightened.
“What?”
“A statement saying Brandon had contributed financially to improvements on your house.”
I stared at him.
“Did you?”
“No.”
I finally exhaled.
“She got angry.”
“What did she say?”
Nathan pulled out his phone.
“I kept the texts.”
There were dozens.
Gertrude telling him that family helped family.
Gertrude reminding him about the loan.
Gertrude implying his business could be ruined if she demanded immediate repayment.
Then one message from six months earlier.
“If Charlotte ever decides to leave Brandon, we need proof that he has an equitable interest in the property.”
Rebecca read it twice.
“That’s motive.”
The next message was worse.
“Her career has made her arrogant.
Eventually Brandon will need to protect himself and Skylar from her instability.”
I felt something cold move through me.
“Protect Skylar from me?”
Nathan nodded grimly.
There were more.
References to custody.
References to my long work hours.
References to medication I had never taken.
References to emotional breakdowns I had never had.
Gertrude had been building a story.
A paper version of me that didn’t exist.
Workaholic.
Unstable.
Careless mother.
Controlling wife.
Brandon had participated by sending his mother screenshots of our arguments.
Small arguments.
Normal marriage arguments.
But cropped carefully enough, they looked different.
Rebecca leaned back.
“This changes things.”
“How?”
“They weren’t only preparing for financial fraud.”
My throat tightened.
“They were preparing for divorce.”
“Yes.”
“And custody.”
“Yes.”
I thought about Skylar being told her room would disappear.
About Gertrude saying I might live somewhere else.
They had been preparing my child before I even knew there was a war.
Then Nathan scrolled to the final screenshot.
The message was only two weeks old.
It came from Brandon.
“Once the transfer clears, Mom says we’ll finally have enough to force Charlotte out.”
For several seconds, nobody spoke.
Then my phone rang.
It was Skylar’s school.
The secretary sounded nervous.
“Mrs. Mercer, your husband is here.”
May you like
My heart stopped.
“He says he’s taking Skylar home.”
