Chapter 8: The Truth About My Mother's Death
Nobody moved.
The refrigerator hummed. Rain tapped against the kitchen windows. Somewhere upstairs, a floorboard creaked beneath the weight of the house settling.
I stared at Melissa.
"What do you mean, my mom didn't die the way I was told?""
Dad crossed the room so quickly that his chair toppled behind him.
"Melissa, don't you dare use Sophia's mother's death to distract us from what you've done.""
"I'm not distracting anyone!""
"Then explain what you meant.""
Melissa wiped her cheeks with the back of her hand.
"Your wife was sick, Michael. You know that. But she was also frightened about her inheritance. She thought someone was trying to take it.""
Eleanor stepped forward.
"That's true. My daughter called me three days before she was hospitalized.""
Dad turned toward her.
"Why didn't you tell me?""
"Because I didn't know the full story. She said she had found irregularities in the property accounts. She was going to meet a lawyer, but she never got the chance.""
I remembered the hospital room where Mom had spent her final days. I remembered the machines, the white curtains, and Dad sitting beside her bed, holding her hand.
I had been told her illness had suddenly become worse.
"Was my mom murdered?"" I whispered.
Dad immediately knelt beside me.
"No, sweetheart. We don't know that. Nobody has shown us anything that proves it.""
Melissa seized on his words.
"Exactly! Everyone is making accusations without proof.""
Eleanor's gaze never left her.
"Then you won't mind explaining why you contacted your first husband's company to purchase the building after your second husband signed a forged authorization.""
Melissa's face tightened.
"My first husband has nothing to do with this.""
"Then why is his company listed as the buyer?""
"I don't know!""
Richard suddenly laughed bitterly.
"That's what she says whenever the truth catches up with her.""
Melissa spun toward him.
"You're the one who told me the documents were safe!""
Dad turned sharply.
"What documents?""
Richard looked as though he regretted speaking.
Melissa stared at him with naked fury.
"You promised me!""
"And you promised the money would be returned before anyone noticed!""
Dad stepped between them.
"Both of you. Sit down.""
Neither obeyed.
He pointed toward the chairs.
"Now!""
For once, they listened.
Dad called Daniel again and put the phone on speaker. When he explained Melissa's claim about my mother's death, the attorney asked everyone to stop making assumptions.
"Michael," Daniel said, "your wife's medical records documented a serious illness. Nothing we've discussed establishes foul play. But the financial irregularities should be investigated separately, and any documents connected to her final weeks need to be preserved.""
Eleanor nodded.
"I have something else.""
She reached into her handbag and removed a sealed envelope.
"My daughter sent this to me shortly before she died. I never opened it because I believed Melissa's claim that Michael had forbidden all contact. I only found it last month when I was sorting through old papers.""
She handed it to Dad.
The envelope bore my mother's handwriting.
For Michael, if anything happens to me.
Dad's fingers trembled as he broke the seal.
Inside was a short letter and a small brass key.
He read the letter silently first.
Then he began again, this time aloud.
Michael, I need you to listen carefully. I believe someone has been trying to gain access to Sophia's trust. I've discovered that several of the rental statements don't match the records kept by the property manager.
Dad stopped.
He looked at Eleanor.
"She never told me this.""
Eleanor shook her head sadly.
"She may have been afraid.""
Dad continued reading.
I have placed copies of the original financial records in a safety deposit box. The key is enclosed. If I cannot explain everything myself, please take Sophia with you and open it. Don't allow anyone else to handle the documents.
The letter ended with a sentence that made Dad's voice break.
Whatever happens, remember that our daughter is not a burden. She is the best thing that ever happened to us.
He pressed the paper against his chest.
For several seconds, he couldn't speak.
I climbed onto his lap and wrapped my arms around his neck.
He held me tightly.
"I'm sorry, sweetheart," he whispered.
"I'm so sorry I didn't know.""
I didn't know what he was apologizing for exactly. For Melissa's cruelty? For believing her accusations? For all the evenings when I had tried to tell him something was wrong and he had asked me to be patient?
Maybe he was apologizing for everything.
I held him anyway.
Then Richard cleared his throat.
"The safety deposit box might already be empty.""
Dad lifted his head.
"What?""
Richard looked at the brass key.
"Melissa asked me to find it two months ago.""
Eleanor's face went pale.
"You knew about the box?""
"I knew there was one. I didn't know what was inside.""
Melissa stood abruptly.
"This conversation is over.""
Dad rose with me beside him.
"No. It isn't.""
She grabbed her handbag.
"I'm leaving.""
"You're staying until the police arrive.""
"You can't hold me here!""
"I'm not holding you. I'm asking you to stop running away from questions.""
Melissa looked toward the front door, then at Richard.
He wouldn't meet her eyes.
She turned back to Dad.
"You think you're some kind of hero because you finally watched a video? You have no idea how much I've sacrificed for this family.""
Dad's voice was flat.
"Name one thing you sacrificed for Sophia.""
Melissa opened her mouth.
Nothing came out.
The doorbell rang.
Daniel had arranged for a financial investigator to meet them, and the police were arriving to take statements about the assault and suspected fraud.
But Eleanor raised one hand.
"Before anyone leaves, Michael needs to know something else.""
She turned toward Melissa.
"When I first discovered the suspicious transfers, I hired an investigator to find out who was behind them. He found a connection between the company buying the building and a person listed on your late husband's death certificate.""
Melissa's face went utterly blank.
Eleanor continued.
"Your first husband wasn't dead when you married Michael.""
Dad stared at his wife.
"What?""
"He disappeared after a financial investigation began," Eleanor said.
"But the company records show he was still alive when the purchase agreement was drafted.""
Melissa's hands began shaking.
Richard whispered, "You told me he was dead.""
She looked at him.
Then she looked at Dad.
"I thought he was.""
Eleanor shook her head.
"No. You knew he wasn't.""
She removed a final photograph from her handbag and placed it on the table.
It showed a man standing outside a building beside Melissa.
The photograph was dated only three months earlier.
Dad stared at the man's face.
Then he looked at the name printed on the back.
*David Mercer.*
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The man Melissa had supposedly buried years ago was alive.
And according to the investigator, he was scheduled to arrive in town the following morning.
