Chapter 6: The Business Partner Who Wanted My Father Gone
My father stood motionless as the dark sedan stopped outside our house.
“Richard is here?”” he asked.
Daniel nodded.
“He said he needed to collect some paperwork.””
Dad looked at the financial records scattered across the kitchen table.
“What paperwork?””
Daniel's lips parted, but Vanessa interrupted.
“Michael, don't listen to him. He's trying to protect himself.””
Daniel turned on her.
“You told me Richard had arranged everything!””
“Shut up!””
Noah began crying again.
Vanessa carried him toward the living room, whispering reassurances that sounded more like commands.
“It's okay, sweetheart. Mommy's here. Everything is fine.””
But nothing was fine.
My father walked to the front window and watched Richard get out of the car. Richard was in his early fifties, with silver hair, expensive suits, and the kind of smile that made strangers trust him immediately.
I'd known him since I was little.
He used to bring me baseball cards when I was seven. He'd attended my tenth birthday party and once helped Dad build a bookshelf for my bedroom.
When my mother died, he'd sat beside my father at the funeral and promised to help him keep our family together.
Now he was walking toward our front door carrying a leather briefcase.
Dad turned to Daniel.
“Don't move.””
Then he opened the door.
Richard smiled.
“Michael! You're home early.””
Dad didn't return the greeting.
“Come inside, Richard.””
Richard stepped into the foyer, brushing rain from his jacket.
“Is everything all right? You sounded upset on the phone.””
“I didn't call you.””
Richard's smile flickered.
“No? Vanessa said you wanted to review some documents.””
Dad glanced toward the kitchen.
“Did she?””
Richard followed his gaze and saw the papers on the table.
For one brief second, his expression changed.
Then he recovered.
“Ah. The school arrangement.””
Dad closed the front door.
“You know about that?””
“Of course. Vanessa asked for advice about Emily's future. I told her a boarding school could be a good option.””
“You knew she was being removed from school without my permission?””
Richard placed his briefcase on the hallway console.
“I understood you were both in agreement.””
“I never agreed to anything.””
Richard sighed.
“Michael, you're exhausted. You've been traveling constantly. Perhaps you haven't been involved in every household decision.””
Dad stepped closer.
“I'm involved when someone takes my daughter out of school.””
Richard raised his hands.
“I'm not here to argue. I'm here because the company has a serious financial problem, and we need to discuss it privately.””
Dad's eyes narrowed.
“What problem?””
Richard looked toward Daniel.
“Perhaps we should clear the room first.””
“No,” Dad said.
“Everyone stays.””
Richard's jaw tightened.
“Michael, this is a business matter.””
“Then explain why my business money is being transferred into my wife's private account.””
Richard glanced at Vanessa.
She was standing at the living room entrance, holding Noah against her chest.
Her eyes silently begged him to deny everything.
Richard ignored her.
“The transfers were temporary arrangements. We were trying to protect company assets while we dealt with a liquidity issue.””
Dad stared at him.
“You told me our reserves were healthy.””
“They were.””
“Then why did thirty-two thousand dollars disappear?””
Richard opened his briefcase.
“Because there are obligations you haven't been told about.””
He removed a thick stack of documents and placed them on the table.
Dad flipped through the pages.
I watched his expression grow darker with each sheet.
“These are invoices for consulting services that were never performed.””
Richard sat down.
“They were legitimate business expenses.””
“Three payments to companies that don't exist?””
“They're registered entities.””
“One of them uses a residential mailbox.””
Richard's smile faded.
Dad placed the papers beside the school transfer.
“Did you create these companies?””
Richard leaned back.
“Careful, Michael. Accusing your business partner of fraud is a serious matter.””
“So is taking money from my company.””
Richard's eyes moved toward Vanessa.
“Your wife understood the arrangements.””
Dad turned to her.
“Did you?””
Vanessa shook her head quickly.
“I didn't understand the business documents. Richard said he was helping us.””
“Helping us do what?””
She pressed Noah closer.
“He said you were going to lose the company. He said if I didn't protect myself, the baby and I would be left with nothing.””
Dad stared at her.
“Did he tell you to change my insurance beneficiary?””
Vanessa hesitated.
Richard answered for her.
“I explained that estate planning was important.””
“Estate planning?”” Dad repeated.
“While I was alive and healthy?””
“It's standard practice.””
“Not when someone forges my signature.””
Richard's face hardened.
“You're making a mistake, Michael. I've spent twenty years building this company with you. I have protected your interests countless times.””
“And now you're asking me to ignore missing money and fraudulent documents?””
“I'm asking you to look at the bigger picture.””
Dad stood.
“The bigger picture is that my daughter has been forced to miss school for thirteen days while my wife and my business partner have been making plans behind my back.””
Richard's gaze settled on me.
“Emily, perhaps you should go upstairs.””
“No,” I said.
My voice trembled, but I kept speaking.
“I'm tired of being told to leave whenever adults discuss what they're doing to me.””
Dad looked at me with pride.
Richard's expression turned cold.
“You're a child. You don't understand the consequences of what you're saying.””
“I understand that I was supposed to leave tomorrow. I understand that somebody signed my father's name. And I understand that my stepmother told me nobody would believe me.””
The room fell silent.
Richard picked up his briefcase.
“This conversation is over.””
Dad stepped in front of the door.
“Not yet.””
Richard's eyes narrowed.
“Move, Michael.””
“No.””
For the first time, the two men who'd spent decades calling each other brothers stood like enemies.
Then Dad's phone rang.
The caller ID showed his company's chief financial officer, Patricia Wells.
He answered on speaker.
“Patricia, I'm with Richard. What's going on?””
Her voice came through sharply.
“Michael, thank goodness. I've been trying to reach you. I found irregular transfers in the reserve accounts, and someone attempted to authorize a second payment this morning.””
Dad looked at Richard.
“How much?””
“Seventy-five thousand dollars.””
Vanessa gasped.
Richard went pale.
Patricia continued.
“The payment was stopped because your authorization didn't match the signature on file. But there's another problem. Someone accessed your executive account using your credentials.””
Dad's fingers tightened around the phone.
“Who?””
“We're tracing the login now. But the access came from a device registered at your home address.””
Everyone looked toward Vanessa.
She shook her head frantically.
“No. I didn't do that.””
Richard suddenly lunged for the papers on the table.
Dad caught his wrist.
“Don't.””
Richard struggled.
“Let go of me!””
“Tell me what you did!””
Daniel backed away toward the wall.
Noah began screaming.
And then Richard said something that made my father release him.
“You think this was about Vanessa?”” Richard shouted.
“You think I went through all this trouble just to help her steal a little money?””
Dad stared at him.
Richard's breathing was ragged.
“The company is worth millions, Michael. And you've been planning to sell your controlling shares without telling me.””
Dad's expression changed.
“What are you talking about?””
Richard laughed bitterly.
“You were going to sell your shares to an outside investor. I found the preliminary agreement in your office. If that deal went through, I'd lose control of everything.””
“So you decided to steal from me?””
“I decided to protect what I built!””
“You built it with me!””
Richard pointed toward Vanessa.
“She was supposed to get you to sign the documents before the sale went through. The school transfer was just a way to keep Emily out of the house while we handled the paperwork.””
Vanessa stared at him in horror.
“You told me the money was for the baby!””
Richard ignored her.
“The insurance policy was supposed to secure the family assets. Everything was arranged.””
Dad's face turned white.
“You planned to use my daughter's removal from school to cover financial fraud?””
Richard said nothing.
Dad reached for his phone again.
This time, Richard didn't try to stop him.
Instead, he looked directly at me.
“You should ask your father why he was planning to sell the company without telling his family.””
Dad turned toward him.
“Don't you dare involve my daughter in this.””
But Richard had already reached into his briefcase and pulled out one final document.
He placed it on the table in front of me.
It was a preliminary purchase agreement bearing my father's name.
And beneath the signature was a date from two months earlier.
I recognized the date immediately.
It was the anniversary of my mother's death.
I looked up at Dad.
“Why were you selling the company that day?””
His expression softened, but he didn't answer.
Richard smiled grimly.
“Because your father has been hiding something from you, too, Emily.””
Dad snatched the document from the table.
“That's enough.””
But Richard was already walking toward the door.
Before he left, he turned back one last time.
“Ask him what your mother left behind. Ask him why he never told you about the trust.””
The door slammed.
For several seconds, nobody moved.
Then I looked at my father.
“What trust?””
He stared at the paper in his hand.
And when he finally looked back at me, I realized the betrayal in our family went much deeper than my stepmother's lies.
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Because my father knew exactly what Richard was talking about.
And he'd been keeping it from me my entire life.
