Chapter 10 - LAUREN LEARNED SHE WAS NEVER THE FAVORITE
Lauren stared at the trust document.
“What do you mean Daniel gets the house?”
Theresa's expression gave her away.
“Mom?”
“It's more complicated.”
“No. It isn't.”
Lauren's voice cracked.
“You told me this house would be divided equally.”
Theresa looked at Daniel.
Daniel looked down.
He knew.
Of course he knew.
“When?” Lauren asked.
“Three years ago,” George said.
She turned toward her brother.
“You knew for three years?”
Daniel whispered, “Mom said you had the condo.”
“My condo has a mortgage!”
Theresa snapped:
“Daniel needed security.”
I almost laughed at the word.
Lauren finally heard what I had heard for years.
Someone else needed more.
Therefore you get less.
Her face changed.
“This whole time…”
She looked at me.
“When she made me feel better than you…”
I nodded.
“It wasn't because she loved you more.”
Theresa slammed her hand on the table.
“Enough.”
But Lauren kept going.
“It was because I was easier to control.”
Silence.
Then Aaron spoke.
“What about us?”
Theresa stared at him.
“What?”
“The SUV. The restaurant. The loans.”
“You're not my son.”
There it was.
Aaron actually recoiled.
The pedestal vanished in one sentence.
Theresa's system depended on status until status became inconvenient.
Monica returned us to the legal issue.
The trust transfer might be challengeable depending on George's informed consent and state law.
That was his fight.
Not mine.
My fight was simpler.
Marriage.
Hidden money.
Unauthorized transfers.
Financial deception.
Daniel finally stopped arguing about reconciliation.
He hired his own attorney.
For the first time, he seemed to understand that I wasn't coming back.
Then he asked for one private conversation.
With counsel nearby.
“I did love you.”
I believed him.
That was the painful part.
“Maybe.”
“I did.”
“You also planned to leave me.”
“I was angry.”
“For a year?”
“I felt small beside you.”
“That was never my goal.”
“I know.”
He looked exhausted.
“Mom kept telling me you'd eventually decide you didn't need me.”
“And you responded by proving I couldn't trust you.”
He laughed sadly.
“Yes.”
Then he said something unexpected.
“She told me the restaurant would save my marriage.”
I stared.
“How?”
“If I had something successful of my own, I'd stop resenting you.”
There was almost tragedy in that.
Almost.
Except he stole from me to build it.
Then Daniel handed Monica a folder.
“I want to give this back voluntarily.”
Inside were complete passwords and records for Cypress.
Every transfer.
Every hidden asset.
Every payment.
And one document Priya had not found.
A life-insurance policy.
Policyholder:
Daniel.
Insured:
Me.
Beneficiary:
Daniel Mercer.
Coverage:
May you like
$5 million.
My stomach turned cold.
