Chapter 6 - WHY DIANE KNEW MY GRANDFATHER
My grandfather’s name was Edward Sinclair.
He built three accounting firms, sold two, and spent his final years investing in small businesses.
I knew Diane had worked in finance when she was younger.
I did not know she had worked for Edward.
Rachel found the employment records.
Diane Parker had been my grandfather’s office manager for four years.
She left suddenly.
No reference letter.
No farewell notice.
“What happened?” I asked my mother.
She went quiet.
“You never knew?”
“No.”
Mom sighed.
“Your grandfather fired her.”
“For what?”
“Missing money.”
Of course.
The pattern was becoming exhausting.
Not millions.
About $60,000 spread over eighteen months.
Grandpa never prosecuted.
He demanded repayment and terminated her.
“She repaid him?”
“Part of it.”
“How much?”
“Maybe half.”
Then Mom said something worse.
“Edward always believed she blamed our family.”
That explained Diane’s hostility toward me from the beginning.
Her constant remarks about “people who inherit everything.”
Her jokes about me being spoiled.
Her obsession with whether the house was really mine.
She hadn’t met me as just Eric’s girlfriend.
She had met me as Edward Sinclair’s granddaughter.
“Did Eric know?”
Mom didn’t know.
He did.
When I confronted him, he admitted Diane had told him before our second date.
“She recognized your last name.”
“So you knew she had history with my family.”
“Yes.”
“And you never mentioned it.”
“She said it was embarrassing.”
“What else did she tell you?”
“That your grandfather cheated her.”
There it was.
Diane’s version.
Grandpa hadn’t caught her taking money.
He had “withheld wages.”
He had “used her.”
He had “kept bonuses.”
Same facts.
Different story.
Then Rachel found the original settlement.
Diane had signed an acknowledgment admitting unauthorized transfers.
No ambiguity.
No wage dispute.
She owed Edward $31,700 at termination.
He forgave the remaining balance after five years.
Why?
Because she had a child.
Eric.
My grandfather had decided not to pursue a young mother further.
He had shown mercy.
Diane had turned that mercy into resentment.
Then one handwritten note appeared in Edward’s file:
Diane believes forgiveness means she was right. Do not involve her in future family property.
My skin prickled.
“Future family property.”
The house.
My grandfather had helped me buy it years later.
Maybe he knew exactly why he wanted it protected.
Then Rachel uncovered another document.
When I purchased the house, Edward had placed a private covenant in the closing file.
No family member of Diane Parker may acquire beneficial ownership through gift, transfer, or marital agreement without express approval of Claire Sinclair.
I stared.
“Why would Grandpa specifically name Diane?”
Michael answered.
May you like
“Because he expected her to come back.”
That meant my marriage to Eric may not have been the first time Diane tried to reconnect herself to my family’s assets.
