Chapter 4: The Man Behind the Money
For several seconds, my father didn’t move.
Neither did I.
Vanessa’s words seemed to hang over the kitchen like smoke.
“He’s the reason I married you.””
Dad lowered the checkbook.
“What does that mean?””
Vanessa wiped her cheeks.
“I didn’t mean it like that.””
“You said it exactly like that.””
“Richard, I’m upset.””
“So am I.””
His voice was terrifyingly quiet.
“Explain Nathan Cole.””
Vanessa glanced at me.
“This should be private.””
Dad laughed once.
“You took nearly thirty thousand dollars from Emily. There is no private anymore.””
I stared at Vanessa.
“Was Nathan getting my rent?””
She didn’t answer.
“Vanessa.””
“Some of it.””
My stomach turned.
Dad opened the check register again.
“Twenty thousand dollars is not some of it.””
“There were reasons.””
“What reasons?””
Vanessa gripped the edge of the counter.
“Nathan was in trouble.””
“What kind?””
“Financial.””
Dad waited.
Vanessa looked toward the window.
“He owed people money.””
“So you stole from my daughter?””
“I didn’t steal!””
“You secretly charged the beneficiary of this house rent, demanded cash, hid it from me, deposited it into an account I didn’t know existed, then sent most of it to another man.””
Dad slapped the checkbook onto the counter.
“What would you call that?””
Vanessa flinched.
I had never seen Dad look at her that way.
Not hatred.
Something colder.
Recognition.
As if the woman standing across from him had Vanessa’s face but belonged to someone he had never met.
He picked up his phone.
“What are you doing?”” Vanessa asked.
“Calling Daniel.””
My stomach tightened.
“Mom’s attorney?””
Dad nodded.
Vanessa immediately stepped forward.
“Richard, don’t.””
That made him stop.
Not because he intended to obey.
Because she sounded afraid.
“Why not?””
“Because this is a family problem.””
“It became a legal problem when you started taking money connected to Laura’s trust.””
“You don’t know that.””
“Exactly.””
Dad unlocked his phone.
“So I’m going to ask someone who does.””
Vanessa reached for it.
Dad pulled his hand back.
“Don’t touch me.””
She froze.
He called.
A man answered after several rings.
“Richard?””
“Daniel. Sorry to call at night.””
Dad looked at me.
“I need you to tell me something about Laura’s trust.””
A pause.
Then Dad asked the question.
“Was Emily ever supposed to pay rent to live in this house?””
I could hear Daniel’s answer through the phone.
“No.””
One word.
That was all it took.
Vanessa sank onto a kitchen chair.
Dad’s face hardened.
Daniel continued speaking.
Dad listened.
Then he asked, “Could my wife collect rent from Emily without my knowledge?””
Another pause.
“No authority whatsoever?””
Vanessa covered her face.
Dad walked into the dining room while Daniel explained something.
I stayed in the kitchen.
With her.
Vanessa slowly lowered her hands.
“You’re enjoying this.””
I stared at her.
“What?””
“You finally got what you wanted.””
“What did I want?””
“Your father to choose you.””
I almost laughed.
Instead, tears burned my eyes.
“You made me pay $800 every month.””
“I gave you structure.””
“You made me feel like I could be thrown out of my mother’s house.””
“You needed motivation to leave.””
“Then why did you guilt me every time I looked at apartments?””
Her mouth opened.
Nothing came out.
I stepped closer.
“You told me Dad would think I was abandoning him.””
“I was trying to keep the family together.””
“No.””
My voice shook.
“You were trying to keep the payments coming.””
Her expression changed.
That landed.
Dad returned.
“Daniel wants us in his office tomorrow morning.””
Vanessa stood.
“I’m not going.””
Dad looked at her.
“That’s your decision.””
He gathered the letters and financial records.
“But you’re not staying here tonight.””
Her face hardened.
“You can’t throw me out of my own home.””
Dad looked around.
“You made one thing painfully clear tonight.””
He glanced at Mom’s photograph.
“This was never your home to control.””
Vanessa stared at him.
Then she walked upstairs.
Twenty minutes later, she came down dragging a suitcase.
She stopped beside me.
“You think you won.””
Dad stepped between us.
“Leave.””
Vanessa’s eyes stayed on mine.
“Nathan knows things about your mother that Richard doesn’t.””
My heart skipped.
“What things?””
“Vanessa,” Dad warned.
She smiled bitterly.
“Ask Daniel why Laura changed the trust six weeks before she died.””
Dad went still.
Vanessa opened the front door.
Then looked back.
“And ask him why your mother was suddenly afraid someone would take the house from you.””
The door slammed.
Dad and I stood in silence.
Finally, I looked at him.
“Was Mom afraid?””
“I don’t know.””
“You didn’t know she changed the trust?””
Dad shook his head.
“I thought everything was arranged months earlier.””
My phone vibrated.
Unknown number.
I almost ignored it.
Then a message appeared.
EMILY, THIS IS NATHAN COLE.
My breath caught.
A second message followed.
VANESSA HAS BEEN LYING TO BOTH OF YOU.
May you like
Then a third.
BUT THE BIGGEST LIE IS ABOUT YOUR MOTHER.
