Chapter 10 - The Man I Called Dad
I had spent my entire life defending a man who helped destroy my mother.
That realization hurt worse than anything Lorenzo Dresco had done.
"Walter?" I whispered.
May nodded.
"He worked for Leonard."
I shook my head.
"No."
May's expression filled with sympathy.
"I'm sorry."
I stepped backward.
"My father was a gambler. He made terrible choices, but he loved my mother."
Eleanor approached.
"He may have loved her. That doesn't mean he didn't betray her."
I couldn't breathe.
Detective Brooks carefully asked May to explain.
According to May, Walter had discovered that Evelyn was hiding financial records.
Leonard offered him money to recover them.
Walter gave him access to the house.
But Evelyn had already moved the most important evidence.
When Leonard realized she'd deceived him, he threatened her.
Months later, she became ill.
I remembered her final days.
The weakness.
The pain.
The way Walter insisted he would handle her medication.
My stomach twisted.
"Did he poison her?"
May lowered her eyes.
"I don't know whether he administered anything himself. But he helped Leonard reach her."
I sat down.
For years, I'd blamed myself for not earning enough money to keep my father stable.
I'd paid his debts.
Sacrificed my savings.
Worked exhausting shifts.
And all the while, he'd been hiding a crime that took my mother away.
Julian crouched beside me.
"Cora."
I shook my head.
"Please don't tell me everything will be okay."
He nodded.
"I won't."
For a long moment, he simply stayed beside me.
Then he spoke quietly.
"But you don't have to face this alone."
I looked at him.
His face was serious.
No arrogance.
No commands.
Only concern.
And somehow, that made the tears come harder.
Later, Detective Brooks received news.
Walter had been found alive in a private apartment connected to Lorenzo Dresco.
He had agreed to give a statement in exchange for protection and legal representation.
I didn't know whether to feel relieved or furious.
Maybe both.
That evening, May showed me one final letter from my mother.
Evelyn had written it shortly before her death.
Cora, someday you may learn things about your father that break your heart.
Remember that his choices belong to him, not you.
I began crying.
You are not responsible for saving him from himself.
My hands shook.
And if the truth ever finds you, I hope you'll choose a life filled with love rather than fear.
I pressed the letter against my chest.
Then May touched my shoulder.
"Your mother asked me to give you something else."
I looked up.
"What?"
She opened a small wooden box.
Inside was a photograph of Evelyn standing beside a man I didn't recognize.
He was handsome.
Dark-haired.
Smiling.
I frowned.
"Who is he?"
May hesitated.
"His name was Nathan Mercer."
My heart pounded.
"Mercer? My mother's family?"
May nodded.
"Her younger brother."
I stared.
"I have an uncle?"
May's expression changed.
"Yes."
"Is he alive?"
"I don't know."
Then she handed me another photograph.
Nathan stood beside Leonard Vale.
And on the back, my mother had written:
Nathan knows who really controls the Dresco money.
May looked at me.
"Cora, Leonard was never working alone."
May you like
She swallowed.
"And the man financing him may still be inside Julian's organization."
