Chapter 6: David’s Secret
I sat down because my knees stopped cooperating.
For six years, I had believed I knew the important truths about my first marriage.
David had loved me.
He had loved Ethan.
He had held newborn Lily against his chest and cried.
Then one rainy morning, a truck crossed the center line, and I became a widow before thirty.
Now his handwriting was in my hands.
*Claire must never know what Diane did.*
Michael read it again.
“What did my mother do?””
“I don’t know.””
Christopher pulled out a chair.
“Maybe this is fake too.””
I looked at him.
“It’s David’s handwriting.””
“You’re sure?””
“Yes.””
Michael pointed at the bank statement.
“And the seventy-five thousand?””
“I never knew about it.””
“Could David have owed Mom money?””
“No.””
“Business?””
“No.””
“Investment?””
“No.””
Christopher sat opposite me.
“How well did David know Mom?””
That question hit harder than it should have.
“They met.””
“When?””
“After Michael and I started dating.””
Christopher shook his head.
“No. The transfer happened before David died.””
“I can see that.””
“So they knew each other before you met Michael.””
Michael slowly turned toward me.
I understood what Christopher was suggesting.
“No.””
“Claire—”
“No. Michael and I met more than a year after David died.””
“I know.””
“Then why would David know Diane?””
Nobody had an answer.
I called Peter Lawson.
It was late, but I didn’t care.
The call rang four times.
Then someone answered.
“Hello?””
“Peter?””
Silence.
“Claire?””
Hearing him say my name made my skin prickle.
“Yes.””
Another pause.
“How did you get this number?””
“Why were you meeting Diane Bennett?””
The silence changed.
Not confusion.
Fear.
“Claire, where are you?””
“At Christopher Bennett’s house.””
“Is Diane there?””
“No.””
“Good.””
Michael stepped closer so he could hear.
“Peter, my children’s trust has been emptied.””
He inhaled sharply.
“How much?””
“Almost everything.””
“Listen to me carefully. Call the police.””
“We’re going to.””
“Do it now.””
“You knew this could happen?””
“No.””
“You knew something.””
“Claire—”
“Why did David send Diane seventy-five thousand dollars?””
Peter stopped breathing for a second.
Then he said, “Where did you find that?””
“So it’s real.””
“I didn’t say that.””
“You didn’t have to.””
Michael took the phone.
“This is Michael Bennett. Diane is my mother. If you know what she’s doing, tell us.””
Peter’s voice became guarded.
“I cannot discuss a former client’s confidential affairs over the phone.””
“He’s dead.””
“Some obligations survive death.””
I grabbed the phone back.
“Peter, somebody used my identity to take my children’s inheritance.””
“That changes things.””
“Then start talking.””
“I need to see the documents.””
“Tonight.””
A pause.
“All right.””
We arranged to meet at his office.
Christopher wanted to come.
Michael told him no.
“You stay here.””
“Why?””
“Because I still don’t know what you knew.””
Christopher looked wounded.
“You think I helped her?””
“I think my mother framed a five-year-old today. I’m done assuming anything about anyone.””
We left.
Peter’s office occupied the second floor of a small brick building downtown.
He was waiting at the entrance when we arrived.
He had aged dramatically since I last saw him.
He locked the door behind us.
“Show me everything.””
I gave him the trustee-modification form.
Peter examined it.
“This is fraudulent.””
“You’re certain?””
“I prepared the original trust.””
He pointed to a paragraph.
“This language is wrong.””
Michael leaned closer.
“What does that mean?””
“Someone copied portions of legitimate documents and created a false amendment.””
I showed him the transfer.
Peter’s face tightened.
“This should not have been possible.””
“But it happened.””
“Then someone convinced the institution that the trust had been lawfully modified.””
“Diane?””
Peter didn’t answer.
I placed David’s bank statement on his desk.
Then the note.
His face changed.
“You’ve seen this before.””
“No.””
“You’re lying.””
Peter removed his glasses.
“Claire, there are things David asked me never to discuss.””
“David is dead.””
“I know.””
“My children just lost almost four hundred thousand dollars.””
“I know.””
“Then stop protecting secrets.””
Peter looked toward Michael.
“Your mother should never have had this.””
Michael’s voice hardened.
“What did David pay her for?””
Peter stared at the note for a long time.
Finally, he opened a locked filing cabinet.
From the back, he removed a thin folder.
“David came to me four months before his death.””
My heartbeat quickened.
“He was frightened.””
“Of Diane?””
“Not exactly.””
Peter placed the folder down.
“He believed someone had discovered something about Ethan.””
I froze.
“My son?””
Peter nodded.
“What about Ethan?””
“He wouldn’t tell me everything. He said someone was threatening to expose information that could destroy his family.””
Michael looked at me.
“What information?””
Peter opened the folder.
Inside was an old photograph.
Diane stood outside a restaurant.
Beside her was David.
The date printed in the corner was seven years ago.
I felt sick.
They hadn’t merely met.
They had known each other.
Peter continued.
“David paid Diane seventy-five thousand dollars.””
“Why?””
“To make her disappear.””
Michael went pale.
“My mother blackmailed him?””
“That was David’s claim.””
“Over what?””
Peter hesitated.
I slammed my hand onto the desk.
“Tell me!””
He looked at me with something close to pity.
“David believed Diane had obtained a copy of Ethan’s original birth records.””
My entire body went cold.
“That makes no sense.””
Peter slid another document across the desk.
It was a photocopy of a hospital record.
Ethan’s date of birth.
My name.
And beneath the line marked *Father*, someone had circled a name in red ink.
Not David’s.
I stared at it.
Michael leaned over my shoulder.
Then he stopped moving.
May you like
Because the name circled on my son’s birth record was one I had never seen there before.
*Michael Bennett.*
