Chapter 6: The House They Planned to Buy With My Daughter's Future
At 9:36 Sunday morning, I was sitting at the kitchen table when Dad arrived.
He looked exhausted.
His shirt was wrinkled, his eyes were red, and he was carrying a thick brown envelope.
Ben opened the front door.
"Robert, come in.""
Dad stepped inside without saying much.
He placed the envelope on the table.
"I brought everything I found.""
I looked at him.
"Did Mom know you were coming?""
"No.""
He pulled out a chair and sat down.
"She's still telling everyone that you're making false accusations. Katie is backing her up.""
I opened the envelope.
Inside were bank statements, printed emails, and several handwritten notes.
I began sorting them.
The first statement showed my monthly transfers.
$1,200.
$1,200.
$1,200.
Forty-eight consecutive deposits.
Then I found Dad's transfers.
$1,500 every month.
Forty-eight consecutive deposits.
I added the numbers on my phone.
My mother had received $129,600 from the two of us over four years.
I looked up.
"Did you know you were sending her that much?""
Dad shook his head.
"I thought it was going toward the mortgage.""
"Did you ever check the mortgage balance?""
He stared at the table.
"No. She handled the bills.""
I turned another page.
There were several transfers from their joint account to an account ending in 7719.
The same account shown on the statement Dad had sent me.
Katie's account.
The amounts varied.
$2,000.
$4,500.
$7,500.
Then, three days earlier, $38,000.
Dad rubbed his face.
"Your mother told me Katie was having trouble with her business.""
I looked at him.
"Did you agree to give her money?""
"I agreed to help with small emergencies. Not this.""
He picked up one of the statements.
"Look at the dates.""
I did.
The transfers to Katie had started almost two years earlier.
Every few weeks, money was moving out of the account that supposedly contained our mortgage funds.
I felt sick.
"How much?""
Dad pointed toward the calculator.
I added the visible transactions.
The total exceeded $67,000.
That was separate from the recent $38,000 transfer.
"Where did the rest go?"" I asked.
Dad shook his head.
"I don't know.""
Ben leaned over the table.
"We need to secure the documents and get proper legal advice. This is beyond a family argument.""
Dad nodded.
"I know.""
I continued looking through the envelope.
Then I found a folded sheet of paper.
It appeared to be a property listing.
A three-bedroom house in a nice neighborhood.
The asking price was $385,000.
The buyer's name wasn't visible, but someone had written Katie's initials in the top corner.
Underneath the listing was a handwritten note.
"Deposit: 38K. Remaining funds after transfer to be used for renovations.""
I looked at Dad.
"Is this the house Katie wants to buy?""
He stared at the paper.
"She showed your mother this property last month.""
"Did you know Mom was helping her buy it?""
"No.""
I turned the page over.
There was another handwritten note.
"Nora's account will cover the deposit. She won't challenge it if Linda explains it's for the grandchildren.""
My fingers went numb.
Ben took the paper from me.
"That's enough. We need copies of everything.""
Dad lowered his head.
"I never thought Linda would do something like this.""
I looked at him.
"Neither did I.""
For years, I had trusted my mother with the most precious part of my life.
She had held Sienna as a newborn.
She had promised to love her.
She had kissed her forehead and called her Grandma's little angel.
And apparently, behind those affectionate gestures, she had been discussing how to take her future savings.
My phone rang.
Linda.
Dad looked at the screen.
"Don't answer.""
I answered anyway and put it on speaker.
"Hello, Mom.""
Her voice was sharp.
"Your father is there, isn't he?""
I looked at him.
"Yes.""
"Put him on the phone.""
"No. You can speak to both of us.""
She let out an angry breath.
"I want you to stop spreading lies about me.""
"What lies?""
"That I stole money from you!""
I looked at the bank statements.
"Did you transfer $38,000 into Katie's account?""
"That money was for the grandchildren.""
"Which grandchildren?""
She went silent.
Then she said, "Katie needed help. She has three children to raise.""
"And Sienna has a future to protect.""
"Oh, don't be ridiculous. You have plenty of money.""
I stared at the phone.
"That money was saved specifically for Sienna's education.""
Linda laughed bitterly.
"She's twelve. She doesn't need thirty-eight thousand dollars sitting in a bank account.""
I felt Ben's hand close around mine.
"Did you attempt to withdraw it?""
"I was helping you manage it!""
"You submitted a withdrawal request without my permission.""
"Because you're too stubborn to understand what's best for this family!""
Dad suddenly leaned toward the phone.
"Linda, where is our mortgage money?""
Silence.
"Robert, this is between me and Nora.""
"No, it's between you and me too. I've been sending you fifteen hundred dollars every month. Nora has been sending you twelve hundred. Where is it?""
Linda's voice became softer.
"Robert, don't do this now.""
"Where is the money?""
"I used some of it to help Katie.""
"How much?""
She didn't answer.
Dad's face turned pale.
"How much, Linda?""
"She needed it!""
"You told me we were struggling to pay the mortgage!""
"We were!""
"Then why were you sending thousands of dollars to Katie?""
Linda began shouting.
"Because she's my daughter too! She has three children! She needs help!""
I stared at the phone.
"And what about Sienna?""
Linda snapped.
"Don't you dare compare them!""
The room went silent.
Dad slowly stood.
"Linda, I want you to come home.""
"I'm not leaving the party.""
"The party is over.""
"Robert—"
"Come home. Now.""
He ended the call.
For a moment, nobody spoke.
Then my phone buzzed.
A text from Katie.
"Mom says Dad is turning against her because of you. You need to fix this before you ruin everything.""
I didn't reply.
A second message followed.
"And tell the bank to release the money. The house seller is waiting.""
I stared at it.
There was no apology.
No denial.
Katie knew exactly what the $38,000 was for.
Before I could respond, another notification appeared.
This one came from the bank.
<badge color="danger">FRAUD INVESTIGATION UPDATE</badge>
*Additional account activity detected.*
I opened the notification.
The bank had identified an attempted change to the account's registered contact information.
The request had been submitted using Linda's credentials.
But the new contact wasn't Katie.
It was a person whose name I had never seen before.
I read the name twice.
Then I turned the phone toward Ben.
He frowned.
"Who is that?""
I shook my head.
"I don't know.""
Dad leaned closer.
The moment he saw the name, all the color drained from his face.
"That's impossible.""
I looked at him.
"Who is it?""
He swallowed.
Then he whispered:
"That's your mother's financial adviser. The same man who helped her open the account she never told me about.""
And beneath his name was a second notification.
*A scheduled transfer of the remaining account balance had been requested for Monday morning.*
The destination account was still hidden.
But the amount was clear.
*$91,600.*
I looked at Dad.
"How much money is actually left?""
He didn't answer.
Instead, he reached into his jacket and pulled out one final document.
It was a copy of an account agreement.
May you like
And at the bottom, beside the signature line, was my name.
Only I had never signed it.
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