Chapter 10 - What He Put My Name On
I didn’t touch the page.
“Mara.”
She followed my gaze.
Dale reached for it.
My father said, “Leave it.”
The room froze.
It was the first time Charles had sounded afraid.
Not angry.
Afraid.
His attorney asked for a private conversation immediately.
Mara requested a copy of the document and related records through counsel.
We left without shouting.
In the elevator, I pressed my thumb against my finger so hard it hurt.
Mara noticed.
“Look at me.”
I did.
“Finding your name on something doesn’t make you responsible for it.”
“He told everyone I took the money.”
“I know.”
“He was getting ready.”
She didn’t pretend otherwise.
By the end of the week, the transfer records showed where the money had gone.
Harbor Lantern.
From there, part had covered overdue obligations on the vacation property.
Another portion had paid a creditor pursuing Charles personally.
The transfer had been submitted through Dale’s banking credentials.
My scanned signature was attached as supposed approval.
I sat across from Jonah while he explained it.
“So the company reserve paid his private debts.”
“That’s what the records show.”
“And when it ran out, he blamed me.”
Jonah said nothing.
He didn’t need to.
I went home and opened every old message from my father.
Can you handle this?
Need it tonight.
Don’t involve anyone else.
You’re the only one I trust with details.
I had kept those messages because I thought they meant something.
They did.
Just not what I had wanted.
Dominic called that evening.
“Mara told my counsel enough to keep our process stopped,” he said. “Are you all right?”
“No.”
A pause.
“Do you want company?”
“No.”
“All right.”
He didn’t arrive anyway.
He didn’t tell me what I needed.
He let me hang up.
For reasons I couldn’t explain, that kindness finally broke me.
I cried on my kitchen floor until my phone rang again.
An unknown number.
I nearly ignored it.
Then a tired voice said, “Claire, it’s Dale.”
May you like
I sat up.
“I need my own lawyer,” he whispered. “But there’s something your father doesn’t know I kept.”
