Chapter 4 - Emily’s Account
“What account?”
Caleb didn’t answer immediately.
Mother did.
“He’s confused.”
“No.”
Caleb shook his head.
“I’m done.”
Mother’s expression hardened.
“You have no idea what you’re saying.”
“I know exactly what I’m saying.”
He looked at me.
“Dad left money.”
Our father had died nine years earlier.
His company had been sold.
The estate had been divided.
At least that was what I had been told.
“How much?”
Caleb swallowed.
“Twenty-two million.”
I stared at him.
Mother closed her eyes.
“Where?”
“Offshore.”
Shaw leaned forward.
“And Emily discovered it?”
Caleb nodded.
“She handled bookkeeping for the family foundation while Daniel was deployed.”
I remembered.
Emily had offered to help Mother organize charitable accounts.
“She found transfers that didn’t make sense.”
Mother spoke coldly.
“Those transfers were legal.”
Caleb laughed.
“No, they weren’t.”
The room changed.
This wasn’t just about Emily anymore.
It was about years of deception.
Caleb continued.
“Dad created a trust before he died.”
“For whom?”
Caleb looked at me.
“You.”
I said nothing.
“Why?”
“Because you were the only one he trusted to keep the company from being stripped apart.”
Mother snapped.
“Your father was sick.”
“Dad was dying.”
Caleb turned toward her.
“He wasn’t stupid.”
The trust had been hidden.
Mother had redirected funds.
Caleb had helped.
Emily found the trail.
“She confronted you?”
I asked.
Caleb nodded.
“She said she would tell you when you came home.”
“When was that?”
“Two weeks ago.”
Exactly when Emily’s messages to me had changed.
I remembered one.
There’s something we need to discuss in person.
I had assumed it was about the baby.
It wasn’t.
“What happened after she confronted you?”
Caleb’s eyes filled.
“Mom panicked.”
Mother slapped him.
The sound cracked through the room.
Shaw immediately stepped between them.
“That’s enough.”
Mother pointed at Caleb.
“You pathetic coward.”
Caleb stared at her.
“You told me nobody would get hurt.”
My blood went cold.
“What did she tell you to do?”
Caleb looked at me.
“Convince Emily to stay quiet.”
“How?”
“We told her the financial investigation would destroy the foundation.”
“And?”
“She didn’t care.”
Good.
That sounded like Emily.
“She said stealing from you was bad enough.”
Caleb’s voice cracked.
“But stealing from your son was unforgivable.”
My son.
The trust apparently transferred to my child if I died.
Emily had discovered Mother had been moving money out before the birth.
“She threatened to call federal investigators.”
“What did Mother do?”
Caleb looked toward the stairs.
“She took Emily’s phone.”
I remembered the last message I had received.
Love you.
Come home safe.
Sent four days ago.
“Who sent me Emily’s messages after that?”
Caleb didn’t answer.
He didn’t need to.
I looked at Mother.
May you like
She stared back.
And for the first time in my life, I saw a stranger wearing my mother’s face.
