Chapter 8 - My Mother’s Secret
Mom cried for almost an hour.
She insisted she had never touched the foundation’s money.
Maya remained careful.
“Then tell us who D.C. is.”
Mom shook her head.
“I don’t know.”
I wanted to believe her.
Then Maya placed another document on the table.
A foundation account had transferred $400,000 into a trust controlled by my mother.
Mom stopped crying.
Her face became blank.
“Explain it.”
She stared at me.
“Your father told me it was an inheritance.”
“From whom?”
“His aunt.”
“Dad’s aunt died without money.”
Mom lowered her head.
“I knew something was wrong.”
The words hurt worse than I expected.
“You knew.”
“I suspected.”
“And you said nothing.”
“I was afraid.”
“Of losing the house?”
“Of losing you.”
I laughed once.
“He threw me out yesterday.”
Mom flinched.
I hated myself for enjoying that.
Then she reached into her purse.
“There is something else.”
She placed a photograph on the table.
It showed Dad and Caleb outside a restaurant.
Between them stood another man.
Daniel recognized him immediately.
“Dennis Cole.”
D.C.
Dennis Cole had been chief financial officer of the Arden Children’s Foundation.
He had died three years earlier in what police ruled a boating accident.
Charles leaned back slowly.
“Three people knew.”
“Evelyn.”
“Dennis.”
“And Robert.”
Maya corrected him.
“Four.”
She pointed toward Caleb.
Daniel’s expression darkened.
Grandma had died after discovering the theft.
Dennis had died the following year.
Dad had survived.
That raised an obvious question.
Why?
The answer arrived before dinner.
Federal agents searched Dad’s home office.
Inside a concealed compartment behind the wall, they found passports.
Cash.
And a handwritten agreement signed by Caleb Whitmore.
The agreement guaranteed Robert Carter five million dollars and permanent protection if he remained silent.
It also contained a clause concerning me.
If Grace Carter establishes a legal or marital relationship with Daniel Whitmore, all arrangements become void.
I read the line twice.
Then I understood.
My relationship with Daniel had threatened Dad’s fortune.
My pregnancy threatened it even more.
That was why he hated Emma before she was even born.
Daniel stood beside me.
“He chose five million dollars over his daughter.”
I looked at Mom.
“And you chose him.”
Mom began to answer.
Then Maya’s phone rang.
She listened for several seconds.
Her expression hardened.
“Robert Carter has disappeared.”
“Where?”
“We don’t know.”
May you like
She paused.
“But his passport is gone.”
