Chapter 6 - Seventeen Million Reasons
I opened the door.
Marissa looked frightened.
“Patricia can't know I'm here.”
I almost laughed at how often people were saying that.
Daniel stood.
“You.”
Marissa saw him and nearly left.
I blocked the doorway.
“You came for a reason.”
She looked at Daniel.
“Your father knew.”
“Knew what?”
“Everything.”
Marissa admitted Blue Palm belonged to her.
But Patricia controlled it.
Thomas, Marissa's brother, had created it years earlier.
After his death, Patricia continued using it.
“Did you steal from Hale Development?”
“I moved money.”
“That wasn't my question.”
Marissa started crying.
“Yes.”
Daniel sat down heavily.
“How much?”
“Almost three million.”
His face went gray.
Marissa continued.
“Patricia said the company owed her. She said Robert would never give Daniel what he deserved.”
Daniel whispered, “I signed those transfers.”
“She told me you knew.”
“I didn't.”
I watched Marissa.
“What happened the night Robert died?”
Her eyes changed.
“I was there.”
Daniel stood so quickly the bucket fell over.
“What?”
“Not inside the house. Outside.”
Robert had summoned Marissa.
He planned to confront her with the records.
She arrived.
Before she could enter, she saw Patricia leaving through the side entrance.
“Patricia said she was at dinner,” Daniel whispered.
“She wasn't.”
“Did you see her give Robert anything?”
“No.”
“Then what do you know?”
Marissa swallowed.
“I know she was carrying his medication bag.”
Silence.
The next morning Samuel contacted authorities.
Quietly.
No accusations.
Only evidence.
Meanwhile, I transferred five million dollars from my trust into a newly created protected account.
Then I purchased something.
Not jewelry.
Not revenge.
A house.
A modest but beautiful property twenty minutes away.
Four bedrooms.
A garden.
A room for Sophie.
A room for Liam.
I could have moved to Cancún immediately.
But leaving before I knew the truth would have meant abandoning my grandchildren inside Patricia's collapsing world.
That afternoon Patricia handed me an envelope.
“A solution.”
Inside was a lease application for a senior apartment.
Six hundred square feet.
She had even selected it.
“I'll pay the first three months,” she said magnanimously.
“That's generous.”
Her smile widened.
“Sign here.”
I read the paper.
Hidden among the lease documents was something else.
A waiver.
By signing it, I would acknowledge Daniel as rightful controller of the Hale Family Property Trust.
There it was.
She still believed I didn't read.
I picked up the pen.
Patricia watched.
Daniel stood across the room.
His face tightened.
I signed the lease page.
Then skipped the waiver.
Patricia's smile vanished.
“You missed one.”
“Did I?”
“That page.”
I picked it up.
“Oh.”
I tore it in half.
Daniel inhaled sharply.
Patricia stared.
“What are you doing?”
“I don't need an apartment.”
“You said—”
“I changed my mind.”
“You can't stay here forever.”
“Neither can you.”
Her face changed.
“What did you say?”
I stood.
For the first time since Robert's funeral, I let Patricia see me clearly.
“This house is owned by the Hale Family Property Trust.”
Daniel closed his eyes.
Patricia said nothing.
“I am the controlling trustee.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
“Daniel inherited—”
“No.”
Her face drained.
I continued.
“The document transferring control to Daniel contains my forged signature.”
Daniel turned toward her.
“Forged?”
Patricia looked at him.
“You knew about that.”
“No, I didn't.”
“You signed—”
“I signed what you told me were estate forms!”
Their argument exploded.
I walked away.
Patricia followed.
“You think you're clever?”
“No.”
“You've been lying.”
“So have you.”
“You pretended to be helpless.”
“I never said I was helpless. You decided I was.”
That silenced her.
Then she laughed.
“What are you going to do? Throw your own son and grandchildren into the street?”
She had found the weapon.
Family.
Again.
“No.”
Her confidence returned.
“But I may throw you out.”
She stepped closer.
“You don't have the courage.”
“Robert thought I did.”
Her eyes flickered.
I saw it.
Fear again.
That evening, I told Sophie and Liam I would never abandon them.
Liam, eleven, hugged me without speaking.
Sophie asked, “Are Mom and Dad getting divorced?”
“I don't know.”
“Is Mom a bad person?”
That question hurt.
“Your mother has made serious choices. But you don't have to decide what she is.”
“Do you hate her?”
“No.”
I meant it.
Hatred would have tied me to Patricia longer than love ever could.
At midnight, my phone rang.
Samuel.
“We found the beneficial owner of another Blue Palm account.”
“Who?”
“Eleanor, you should sit down.”
I did.
“The account received $900,000 from Hale Development.”
“Whose account?”
Samuel paused.
“Daniel's.”
I looked toward the ceiling.
My son's bedroom was directly above me.
Then I heard footsteps.
Daniel appeared at the service-room door.
He looked terrified.
“Mom, Patricia's gone.”
“Gone where?”
“I don't know.”
He held out her laptop.
“But she left this open.”
On the screen was a wire-transfer confirmation.
Destination: Mexico.
May you like
Amount: $4,700,000.
And the receiving account was attached to my Cancún property.
