Chapter 16 - OUR FATHER'S RECORDINGS
The first recording was twenty-two years old.
My father’s voice filled the old office.
“If you are hearing this, then I failed to fix my family before it broke.”
Julian sat beside me.
Neither of us moved.
Our father described Eleanor’s gambling.
Her affair with Gerald.
The money disappearing from company accounts.
He described confronting them.
Gerald denied everything.
Eleanor blamed loneliness.
My father forgave her once.
Then twice.
Then he stopped.
The second recording was made months before his death.
“I have changed my will.”
“Sebastian and Julian will receive equal ownership.”
“Julian is my son because I chose to be his father.”
“If Eleanor ever tells him otherwise, I hope he understands that biology never changed a single bedtime story, scraped knee, baseball game, or birthday.”
Julian covered his face.
I placed a hand on his shoulder.
The recording continued.
“Gerald has threatened to expose the affair.”
“I do not care.”
“My sons deserve peace more than I deserve pride.”
Then came the final tape.
My father sounded weak.
“If I die unexpectedly, investigate Eleanor and Gerald.”
My entire body went still.
“They have been asking about my insurance.”
“I found pills in my medication bottle that are not mine.”
Julian whispered, “Jesus.”
My father continued.
“I sent samples to Dr. Russell.”
“I am waiting for results.”
The tape ended.
Detective Harris found Dr. Russell.
He was retired.
He remembered my father.
And he still had archived records.
The pills contained a medication capable of dangerously lowering blood pressure when combined with my father’s prescription.
My father’s official cause of death had been cardiac arrest after a severe drop in blood pressure.
For thirteen years, everyone believed his heart simply failed.
Now investigators reopened the case.
Gerald Knox was arrested two days later at O’Hare Airport while attempting to leave the country.
Rebecca Knox was arrested for medical privacy violations, falsifying records, and conspiracy related to the guardianship scheme.
Eleanor remained missing.
The woman who had once dominated every room had vanished.
But not before emptying one account.
Three million dollars.
Marcus traced a vehicle she rented.
It was found near Lake Geneva, Wisconsin.
Inside was her phone.
Her coat.
And a handwritten note.
Sebastian,
You chose her.
Now live with what happens next.
No body was found.
Police considered the possibility that Eleanor had staged her disappearance.
I knew my mother.
She did not believe in surrender.
May you like
She believed in punishment.
And somewhere, she was preparing one last attempt to make me regret choosing Clara.
