Chapter 8 - MY FATHER’S LAST LETTER
I sat alone in my father's office while Amy waited outside with Helen.
The letter trembled in my hands.
My father's handwriting was unmistakable.
He wrote that he had known Richard was stealing from the company.
He had also discovered that Teresa had been helping him.
But he didn't hate her.
That was the part I couldn't understand.
He wrote that fear could make good people do terrible things.
He hoped Teresa would eventually confess.
She never did.
Then I reached the final pages.
My father had secretly recorded a conversation between Richard and another man.
The recording was stored inside the safe.
I pressed play.
Richard's voice filled the office.
“The boy can't inherit everything.”
Another man answered.
“Then make sure he doesn't.”
My blood went cold.
The second voice belonged to someone I knew.
My mother's attorney.
The man who had handled our family finances for years.
He had helped Richard create the shell companies.
He had helped Teresa hide the money.
He had helped forge the trust documents.
And he had been the person advising me to “keep the peace” every time I questioned my family.
The entire system had been built around keeping me ignorant.
I called Helen.
“We found him.”
“Who?”
I told her.
She immediately contacted investigators.
Then my mother walked into the office.
She looked at the recording device.
“Your father saved that?”
“Yes.”
She sat down.
“I should have told you years ago.”
“Why didn't you?”
“Because I was afraid.”
“You were afraid of Richard.”
“Yes.”
“But you were also afraid of losing the life you had.”
She began crying.
“Yes.”
I looked at her.
For the first time, I saw her not as my mother but as a woman who had made terrible choices.
“You hurt Amy.”
“I know.”
“You used my money.”
“I know.”
“You turned my son's birthday into a nightmare.”
She covered her face.
“I know.”
I wanted to hate her.
Part of me did.
But another part remembered childhood.
Her holding my hand.
Making pancakes.
Sitting beside my father's hospital bed.
People weren't always one thing.
Sometimes they were both the person who loved you and the person who betrayed you.
But love didn't erase consequences.
Helen entered the room.
“We have enough evidence for warrants.”
Then she stopped.
“There's another problem.”
“What?”
“Richard knows.”
My blood ran cold.
“How?”
“The conference center canceled his meeting.”
Someone must have warned him.
Helen looked toward the window.
“We believe he's coming here.”
The old house suddenly felt very small.
Then the lights went out.
Amy screamed from the hallway.
I grabbed my phone.
A car engine roared outside.
And a voice came through the darkness.
“Connor.”
Richard.
May you like
He had come for the documents.
And this time, he wasn't asking.
