Chapter 4 - His Father's Signature
"Safe," Ethan said. "Where you can't bargain over her."
"That isn't fair."
"Neither was a funeral I carried around for nine years. Get here. Bring whatever you kept."
Walter arrived forty minutes later with a leather folder and the expression he wore before announcing layoffs.
Ethan met him in an empty family waiting room.
"Did you know?"
"I knew Olivia hadn't died."
There it was. No misunderstanding left to hide behind.
Ethan gripped the back of a chair.
"You watched me fall apart."
"I thought believing it was over would help you move on."
"You let me grieve a living woman."
Walter placed the folder on the table.
"Victoria said Olivia stole from the foundation. She said the child wasn't yours. Olivia had already told you that herself."
"So you never asked another question."
"I asked whether we could keep the matter private."
"Of course you did."
Inside the folder lay a settlement, an accounting summary, and a typed letter bearing Ethan's signature.
He read the letter twice.
I accept Ms. Bennett's statement concerning the child's paternity and request that all further communication be handled through this office.
He had never seen it.
"That's forged."
Walter's mouth tightened.
"You signed stacks of documents back then."
Ethan turned the page toward him.
"Read the date."
Walter did.
"I was in Denver that week. You broke your ankle visiting the site. I spent that whole afternoon with you in the emergency room."
His father's eyes dropped to the signature again.
"She said you'd stopped by the office."
"And now you have another question you should've asked twelve years ago."
Walter sat heavily.
Ethan photographed every page, then called Dana Bell, the outside attorney who had handled his business contracts.
"I need counsel who doesn't answer to my father or Victoria."
"Then start at the beginning," she said.
He did.
When he finished, Dana told him to preserve the originals and avoid any private agreement.
Walter flinched at that.
Ethan looked up.
"What?"
His father slid out one last sheet. A confidentiality agreement. Walter's signature appeared at the bottom beside Victoria's.
"Why would you need this?" Ethan asked.
Walter said nothing.
Ethan read the clause above their names.
May you like
Neither party would disclose that Olivia Bennett was alive.
The date was only six months old.
