Chapter 3: Welcome Home
At 1:57 the next afternoon, I parked across the street from my own house.
I stayed behind the wheel.
My hands rested on the steering wheel.
Emma sat beside me.
“You don’t have to come.””
“Yes, I do.””
“Emma.””
“I want my stuff.””
Her voice was steady, but she kept rubbing her thumb against the edge of her phone case.
I recognized the habit.
She did it when she was scared.
Rachel sat in the back.
“And I’m coming because one of you needs a witness who isn’t emotionally attached to Captain Midlife Crisis.””
“Rachel.””
“What? I’m helping.””
Emma almost smiled.
That was enough.
Martin had advised me not to reveal everything yet.
First, we needed to confirm whether Daniel knew about the forged authorization.
Second, Martin wanted copies of anything related to the company accounts.
Third, I needed to see whether Daniel would voluntarily acknowledge that he had removed us from the property.
So I turned on the voice recorder on my phone.
Then I crossed the street.
I didn’t knock.
I used Emma’s spare key.
The lock clicked.
Daniel appeared from the hallway almost immediately.
His face darkened.
“How did you get in?””
I held up the key.
“Emma’s.””
“I told you to return all keys.””
“You told me to leave mine.””
“That obviously meant all of them.””
Behind him, Olivia entered the living room wearing a silk blouse and holding a champagne glass.
At two in the afternoon.
She looked at Emma’s suitcase.
Then at me.
“Oh,” she said.
“You actually came.””
Rachel stepped inside.
Olivia’s smile disappeared.
“Why is she here?””
“Because I invited her,” I said.
“This is Daniel’s house.””
Rachel glanced at me.
I said nothing.
Not yet.
Daniel pointed upstairs.
“Take whatever belongs to you. Nothing purchased with my money leaves this house.””
Emma froze.
I looked at him.
“Excuse me?””
“You heard me.””
“So the laptop Emma uses for school?””
“I bought it.””
“The bedroom furniture?””
“My card.””
“The clothes you gave her for Christmas?””
“Sarah, don’t start.””
Emma looked at Daniel.
“You’re taking back my Christmas presents?””
Daniel rubbed his face.
“That’s not what I meant.””
Olivia stepped closer.
“What Daniel means is that Sarah has a habit of acting entitled to things she didn’t earn.””
Rachel laughed.
Actually laughed.
Olivia stared at her.
“What’s funny?””
“You.””
“Rachel,” I warned.
“No, Sarah. Yesterday she threw a mother and a teenager onto the street, and today she’s drinking champagne in their living room while lecturing them about entitlement.””
Olivia’s face hardened.
“You should leave.””
“You first.””
“Rachel.””
Daniel stepped between them.
“Enough!””
Emma quietly walked toward the stairs.
Olivia suddenly reached for her suitcase.
“That stays down here until we check what she’s taking.””
Emma jerked it back.
“Don’t touch my stuff.””
“I’m making sure you’re not stealing.””
My daughter stared at her.
“Stealing?””
“Olivia,” Daniel said.
But Olivia didn’t stop.
“There are expensive things upstairs.””
“Like what?”” Emma demanded.
“My posters?””
“Emma,” I said softly.
“No, Mom. I want to know what she thinks I’m stealing.””
Olivia grabbed the suitcase handle again.
Emma pulled back.
The suitcase fell sideways.
It burst open.
Clothes spilled across the floor.
Emma’s framed photograph landed facedown.
Glass cracked.
She dropped to her knees.
It was a picture of her and Daniel.
Father-daughter dance.
Middle school.
Daniel was smiling in the photograph with both arms around her.
Emma picked it up.
A crack ran directly across Daniel’s face.
Nobody spoke.
Then Emma looked at him.
“You can keep this too.””
She placed the photograph at his feet.
Daniel went pale.
“Emma…”
She walked upstairs.
I followed.
Her bedroom already looked different.
Half the photographs were gone.
Her desk had been moved.
There were cardboard boxes stacked against one wall.
“What happened?””
Emma stared around the room.
“She already started packing me.””
A box was labeled:
*DONATE.*
Emma opened it.
Inside were her childhood books.
Her softball trophies.
A stuffed rabbit my father gave her when she was four.
She lifted it slowly.
“Grandpa gave me this.””
I heard footsteps behind us.
Olivia leaned against the doorway.
“I was clearing clutter.””
Emma stood.
“This is my room.””
“Not anymore.””
I stepped between them.
“Go downstairs, Olivia.””
She smiled.
“You don’t give orders here anymore.””
“Go downstairs.””
Something in my voice made her smile disappear.
She turned.
As she walked away, a folded paper slipped from the leather folder tucked beneath her arm.
It landed near the doorway.
She didn’t notice.
I did.
I waited until her footsteps disappeared.
Then I picked it up.
Emma watched me unfold it.
At first, I saw Daniel’s company logo.
Then a payment authorization.
Then the same company name I had seen the night before.
*OM CAPITAL HOLDINGS.*
Amount:
*$125,000.*
Authorized by:
*Daniel Davis.*
My stomach dropped.
So Daniel knew about at least some of the money.
But then I noticed the account listed beneath the payment source.
I read it again.
And again.
It wasn’t Daniel’s corporate operating account.
It was an account belonging to a subsidiary I had never heard of.
*Whitmore Development Partners.*
My father’s surname.
“Mom?”” Emma whispered.
I folded the paper.
“Pack your things.””
“What is it?””
“Something Daniel needs to explain.””
Downstairs, Daniel was standing beside the fireplace.
Olivia had poured him a drink.
I walked directly toward him.
“Did you know Olivia was receiving money from your company?””
The glass stopped halfway to his mouth.
Olivia’s head turned sharply.
Daniel recovered first.
“What are you talking about?””
I placed the document on the coffee table.
His face changed.
Only slightly.
But I saw it.
Olivia rushed forward.
“Where did you get that?””
“Emma’s room.””
“That was in my folder.””
“Why was your folder in my daughter’s bedroom?””
“That’s irrelevant.””
Daniel grabbed the paper.
His eyes moved across it.
“Sarah, this is business.””
“Whose business?””
“Mine.””
“Then why does it have my father’s name on it?””
Silence.
Rachel moved closer behind me.
Daniel looked at Olivia.
That look told me something neither of them wanted to say.
I took out my phone.
“Yesterday you told me this was your house.””
Daniel’s eyes narrowed.
“It is.””
“You threw Emma out.””
“You left voluntarily.””
Emma appeared halfway down the staircase.
Her face hardened.
“You threw my suitcase at the door.””
Daniel glanced at her.
“I didn’t throw it.””
“You said I wasn’t your daughter.””
His jaw tightened.
“Emma, adults are talking.””
“No,” I said.
I stepped closer.
“She stays.””
Olivia laughed nervously.
“What exactly are you trying to accomplish, Sarah?””
I looked at her.
Then at Daniel.
“You wanted me to collect my belongings.””
“Yes,” Daniel said.
“Good.””
I reached into my purse.
Martin had given me a certified copy of the trust documents that morning.
I placed the folder on the coffee table.
Daniel stared at it.
“What’s that?””
“The reason I came back.””
Olivia rolled her eyes.
“If this is some divorce stunt—”
“It isn’t.””
Daniel opened the folder.
His expression changed as he read the first page.
Then the second.
The color slowly drained from his face.
“What the hell is this?””
I said nothing.
He flipped back to the first page.
His finger stopped beside the ownership line.
“That’s impossible.””
Olivia grabbed the document.
“What?””
Daniel looked at me.
For the first time since he had thrown Emma’s suitcase beside the door, he looked afraid.
“This house belonged to my father.””
“No.””
“He arranged the purchase.””
“He helped arrange it.””
“You’re lying.””
I stepped toward him.
“Call the county.””
Daniel stared at me.
Olivia scanned the document faster.
Then she reached the page naming me successor trustee.
Her champagne glass slipped from her fingers.
It shattered on the hardwood.
Emma jumped.
Olivia didn’t even look down.
Her eyes were locked on my name.
I should have felt victorious.
Instead, I remembered Martin’s warning.
The house was only the beginning.
I picked up the $125,000 authorization.
“There’s one more thing.””
Daniel’s breathing changed.
Olivia suddenly stepped between us.
“Sarah, you need to leave.””
I looked around the living room.
At the staircase.
At the fireplace.
At the walls I had painted.
Then I looked directly at her.
“No, Olivia.””
I placed my hand on the ownership documents.
“You do.””
Daniel slammed the folder shut.
“Nobody is going anywhere until I understand what’s happening.””
My phone rang.
Martin.
I answered.
“Sarah,” he said urgently, “don’t let Daniel destroy any company records.””
My eyes moved to Daniel.
“Why?””
Martin took a breath.
“Because we found out who forged your signature.””
Daniel’s face was inches from mine.
May you like
Olivia stood behind him.
And before Martin could say the name, Olivia lunged for my phone.
