Chapter 7: The College Fund
Vanessa’s silence told me more than any confession could.
I stared at the bank records until the numbers blurred.
My education fund.
The account Mom had started when I was born.
I remembered sitting beside her at the kitchen table when I was thirteen, long before the cancer returned. She had pushed a college brochure toward me and tapped the photograph of the library.
“One day,” she’d said, “you’re going to walk somewhere like that and realize the world is bigger than this house.””
I had laughed.
“What if I don’t get in?””
Mom had squeezed my hand.
“Then you try another door.””
She had been saving for that door.
Vanessa had been emptying it.
“How much?””
My voice sounded strange.
Dad looked at the papers.
“Emily…”
“How much did she take?””
He swallowed.
“Just over thirty-one thousand dollars.””
Madison gasped.
I couldn’t.
I couldn’t make any sound at all.
Thirty-one thousand.
My mind immediately went to the acceptance letter upstairs.
Northwestern.
The envelope I had opened alone in my bedroom because Mom wasn’t there to see it.
I had gotten in.
Dad had hugged me so tightly I could barely breathe.
Vanessa had smiled and said, “We’ll figure out the money.””
Now I understood why.
She already knew some of it was gone.
I looked at her.
“You knew I got accepted.””
Vanessa’s jaw tightened.
“Emily—”
“You stood in this kitchen and congratulated me.””
“I did congratulate you.””
“While knowing you took thirty-one thousand dollars from the account Mom created for my education?””
Vanessa slammed her palm against the counter.
“I did not take thirty-one thousand dollars and put it in my pocket!””
Madison flinched.
Dad didn’t.
“Then where did it go?”” he asked.
Vanessa turned on him.
“You think maintaining this house is free?””
Dad stared at her.
“My salary pays the mortgage.””
“Groceries.””
“I pay those.””
“Utilities.””
“Joint account.””
“Vacations.””
Dad’s eyes narrowed.
“What vacations?””
Vanessa stopped.
Madison slowly looked at her.
“Mom?””
Vanessa said nothing.
Something clicked in Madison’s expression.
“Miami.””
Vanessa’s face tightened.
Madison stepped closer.
“You told Dad Aunt Rebecca paid for our Miami trip.””
Dad looked sharply at Vanessa.
“What trip?””
The question landed like a brick.
Madison went pale.
“You didn’t know?””
“No.””
Vanessa grabbed her coffee mug.
“It was three days.””
Dad stared at her.
“You told me you were visiting Rebecca.””
“We were.””
“In Miami?””
“She was there.””
“With Madison?””
“Yes.””
“With money from Emily’s education account?””
Vanessa looked away.
I felt physically sick.
“You took my mother’s money for a vacation?””
“It wasn’t your mother’s money anymore.””
My chair scraped backward.
Dad’s hand came down on the table.
“Stop.””
Vanessa looked at him.
He pointed toward me.
“Do not say that to her again.””
“She needs to grow up.””
“No. You need to explain every transaction.””
Vanessa laughed bitterly.
“Fine. Some money went toward Madison. Some went toward the house. Some went toward expenses.””
“What expenses?”” I demanded.
She looked at me.
“You wouldn’t understand.””
“Try me.””
She stayed silent.
Madison reached for the papers.
She scanned the list.
Then her face changed.
“Wait.””
Her finger stopped on one transaction.
“Seven thousand four hundred dollars.””
Dad leaned closer.
“What date?””
Madison read it.
Then she looked at her mother.
“That was my sixteenth birthday.””
Vanessa didn’t respond.
Madison’s voice trembled.
“My party?””
I remembered it.
A rented ballroom.
A DJ.
Catering.
A photographer.
Vanessa had spent weeks telling everyone she wanted Madison to have the birthday she deserved.
Madison slowly lowered the paper.
“You paid for my birthday with Emily’s college fund?””
Vanessa’s face softened.
“You were having a difficult year.””
“That’s not an answer.””
“I wanted you to feel special.””
Madison shook her head.
“So you stole from her?””
“Don’t use that word.””
“What word should I use?””
Vanessa’s expression hardened.
“I am your mother.””
“And she was Emily’s.””
The room went completely silent.
Vanessa stared at her daughter.
Madison wiped her eyes.
“You hated every reminder that Laura existed.””
“That is not true.””
“Yes, it is.””
“Madison.””
“You replaced her pictures.””
Vanessa froze.
I looked at Madison.
“What?””
Madison turned toward me.
“When Mom first moved in, there were pictures of your mother in the hallway.””
I remembered.
Then one day they were gone.
Vanessa had told me Dad put them into storage because seeing them made him sad.
Madison continued.
“She threw them away.””
My chest tightened.
“No.””
Vanessa snapped, “Enough.””
Madison looked at me.
“I saw her.””
The room tilted.
Dad’s face drained of color.
“You told me Emily packed those photographs.””
Vanessa stared at him.
Nobody moved.
Then Dad quietly said, “Pack a bag.””
Vanessa blinked.
“What?””
“You’re staying somewhere else tonight.””
“You’re throwing your wife out?””
“I’m separating you from my daughter while I figure out what else you’ve done.””
Vanessa’s eyes narrowed.
“You’ll regret this.””
Dad didn’t answer.
She stormed upstairs.
Ten minutes later, the front door slammed.
The house fell silent.
I thought that was the end of the revelations for one night.
Then Madison touched my arm.
“There’s something else.””
I looked at her.
She was crying.
“Last year, I heard Mom talking to someone about Laura’s things.””
My heart started pounding.
“What did she say?””
Madison swallowed.
“She said the car was the last item she needed to get rid of.””
May you like
And then she whispered the part that made my skin go cold.
“She also said, ‘Once Emily turns eighteen, we lose control of everything.’”
