Chapter 15 - The Money in Patricia's Account
For several seconds, I thought I had misunderstood Mason.
"Patricia?"
He nodded.
"Daniel's mother."
"How?"
"Wire transfer."
"When?"
"The Monday after the baptism."
That was the morning after Daniel had been served with divorce papers.
The morning after he had been formally warned not to hide or dispose of marital assets.
Rebecca's expression went flat.
"What was the stated purpose?"
"Repayment of family loan."
"Was there a family loan?"
Mason shrugged helplessly.
"Daniel said there was."
"Did you see documentation?"
"No."
"Why did you follow the instruction?"
"Because the money was in Northline and I had always moved it when he told me to."
Rebecca leaned back.
"After a court preservation notice?"
Mason looked down.
"I did not see the notice."
"Did Daniel tell you he had been served?"
"Yes."
"Did that concern you?"
"Yes."
"Not enough to stop the transfer."
"No."
His attorney stepped in before Mason could say more.
The interview ended shortly afterward.
Rebecca immediately sent a preservation demand to Patricia through her lawyer.
She also notified the company's outside counsel and requested bank records through formal discovery.
I drove home in silence.
My mother waited until Lily was asleep before asking what happened.
I told her.
She stared at me.
"His mother took sixty thousand dollars after he was served?"
"That is what Mason says."
"Did she know where it came from?"
"I don't know."
My mother sat at the kitchen table.
Then she laughed bitterly.
"She called you vindictive."
I did not answer.
I kept thinking about Patricia at the restaurant.
Her outrage when I refused the settlement.
Her insistence that the company supported dozens of families.
Her claim that I was destroying Daniel.
Had sixty thousand dollars already been sitting in her account while she said those things?
Two days later, we got the answer.
Patricia's lawyer produced the transfer record and a handwritten promissory note.
The note said Patricia had loaned Daniel $60,000 eighteen months earlier for investment purposes.
The problem was the date.
The bank records showed no $60,000 transfer from Patricia to Daniel eighteen months earlier.
Instead, there were six smaller transfers totaling $22,000 over three years.
Some had memo lines such as birthday gift, car repair, and short-term help.
There was no single loan matching the note.
The handwriting expert had not yet analyzed the note, but even I could see that the paper looked too clean for something supposedly stored eighteen months.
Rebecca asked Patricia to sit for a deposition.
Patricia resisted.
Then Robert told his lawyer he would not support a motion to protect her from questioning.
Their marriage began cracking in public almost as quickly as mine had.
I did not take satisfaction in that.
But I noticed it.
The escrow order changed the tone inside Daniel's family immediately.
Patricia called Robert furious that he had not warned her.
Robert told her he had learned of the transfer only after production of the bank records.
Daniel called both of them separately.
He told Patricia the money was hers and she should fight for it.
He told Robert the transfer was an old family matter and none of the company's concern.
Then he told Gordon that Northline had repaid a legitimate debt.
Three explanations for one wire transfer.
Rebecca placed them side by side in a timeline.
I had started doing the same thing mentally.
When Daniel said something new, I no longer asked only whether it sounded plausible.
I asked what he had said before.
That habit changed everything.
Lies often survive one conversation.
They struggle across five.
The night before Patricia's deposition, she sent me a message.
I am sorry this has become so ugly.
I stared at the wording.
This.
As if ugliness had appeared by weather.
I did not answer.
The next morning, she walked into the conference room looking composed.
Patricia arrived for deposition in a cream suit and pearl earrings.
She looked exactly like she had at the baptism before Chloe walked through the door.
Controlled.
Polished.
Certain that presentation mattered.
Her lawyer sat beside her.
Rebecca began with the wire transfer.
"Did you receive sixty thousand dollars from Northline Consulting?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Daniel owed me money."
"How much?"
"Sixty thousand."
"Please describe the original loan."
Patricia paused.
"It was informal."
"When did you give him the money?"
"Over time."
"So there was not one sixty-thousand-dollar loan."
"It accumulated."
"Did you keep records?"
"I am his mother."
"That was not my question."
Patricia's mouth tightened.
"No formal records."
"Who wrote the promissory note?"
"Daniel."
"When?"
"When he borrowed the money."
"Eighteen months ago?"
"Yes."
Rebecca placed a copy of the document in front of her.
"Did you see him sign it eighteen months ago?"
Patricia looked at the page.
"I believe so."
"You believe so?"
"It was a long time ago."
Rebecca changed direction.
"When did Daniel tell you about Chloe Bennett?"
Patricia froze.
Her lawyer objected to relevance.
Rebecca explained that Patricia's knowledge was relevant because she had participated in post-separation financial transfers and had made statements about the marriage during settlement discussions.
The question remained.
Patricia looked at me for the first time that day.
Then she answered.
"Before the baptism."
I felt my pulse in my throat.
"How long before?" Rebecca asked.
"A few weeks."
My hands tightened in my lap.
"Did he tell you Chloe was pregnant?"
"Yes."
"Did he tell you he might be the father?"
Patricia did not answer immediately.
"Yes."
I looked away.
This woman had carried Lily from table to table at the baptism.
She had smiled beside me.
She had complimented my red dress.
She had told relatives what a beautiful family we were.
All while knowing her son might have another newborn child.
Rebecca continued.
"Did you tell Jennifer?"
"No."
"Why not?"
"It was Daniel's responsibility."
"Did you encourage Daniel to tell her?"
"Yes."
"When?"
Patricia hesitated.
"I told him he needed to deal with it."
"That is not a date."
"I do not remember."
Rebecca placed a printed text message on the table.
It had come from Daniel's phone backup obtained through discovery.
Daniel to Patricia:
Not before the baptism.
I need the event to go smoothly.
Patricia's reply:
Then keep Chloe away and keep Jennifer focused on the baby.
My stomach turned.
Rebecca waited.
"Did you send that?"
Patricia looked at the message.
"Yes."
"What did you mean by keep Jennifer focused on the baby?"
"I meant he should not upset her."
"Why?"
"She had just had a child."
"Did you know the baptism was being attended by Daniel's clients?"
"Yes."
"Did you know he wanted the event to serve a business purpose?"
"I knew he invited clients."
"Did you know he had requested company reimbursement?"
"No."
That answer came quickly.
Rebecca moved on.
"Did Daniel tell you Jennifer's salary or bonus would cover the remaining party balance?"
Patricia glanced at me.
"He said they had household money."
"Did he say Jennifer would pay?"
"I do not remember."
I remembered Patricia at the table when the bill arrived.
She had not seemed surprised when Daniel nudged it toward me.
She had watched.
She had said nothing.
Rebecca pulled another message.
Daniel to Patricia, sent the morning of the baptism:
Jen's bonus cleared.
If the hotel asks for the balance, she can handle it.
Patricia replied with a thumbs-up emoji.
I felt heat rise into my face.
Rebecca gave Patricia time to read it.
"Does that refresh your memory?"
Patricia looked down.
"Yes."
"Did you know Daniel had already received reimbursement from the company for the event?"
"No."
"Did you know he planned to transfer some of that reimbursement to Chloe?"
"No."
I believed she might be telling the truth about that part.
It did not help much.
She had still known enough.
Rebecca returned to the sixty-thousand-dollar transfer.
"When did Daniel ask you to accept the money?"
"The day he sent it."
"Did he tell you he had been served with divorce papers?"
"Yes."
"Did he tell you the court papers included financial preservation language?"
Patricia's lawyer objected.
After discussion, Patricia answered.
"He said Jennifer was trying to freeze everything."
"And you accepted sixty thousand dollars from a company he controlled through a friend."
"He owed me money."
"Did you ask where Northline obtained it?"
"No."
"Why not?"
"He is my son."
There it was again.
Not a financial explanation.
A relationship used as permission.
Rebecca asked one final question.
"If the court determines the transfer was made to hide assets, will you return the money?"
Patricia looked at her lawyer.
Then she looked at me.
"I will comply with a court order."
Not voluntarily.
Not because it was right.
If ordered.
After the deposition, I went into the restroom and locked myself in a stall.
I did not cry over Daniel.
I had cried enough over him in private months earlier.
I cried because I finally understood how many people had been standing around my marriage holding pieces of the truth while I kept trying to make sense of the lies alone.
Patricia knew about Chloe.
Mason knew about Northline.
Meghan knew the expenses were wrong.
Daniel knew all of it.
And everyone had a reason not to tell me.
Fear.
Loyalty.
Money.
Convenience.
Then my phone buzzed.
It was Robert.
I almost ignored it.
I answered.
He sounded exhausted.
"I heard what Patricia admitted."
"I'm sorry."
"No."
His voice broke slightly.
"I am sorry."
I leaned against the restroom wall.
Robert continued.
"I did not know about Chloe before the baptism."
"I believe you."
"I also did not know Patricia took the sixty thousand until the bank records came in."
I closed my eyes.
"What are you going to do?"
"That is between Patricia and me."
Then his voice hardened.
"But regarding Daniel, I am done protecting him."
The next morning, Robert's company filed a civil claim against Northline and Daniel seeking repayment of the disputed funds.
At the same time, the court granted Rebecca's emergency request requiring the $60,000 in Patricia's account to be transferred into a neutral escrow account until ownership could be decided.
Daniel called his mother within minutes.
We knew because Patricia's lawyer later produced the voicemail.
Daniel did not ask whether she was all right.
He shouted one question.
"How could you let her get the money?"
Patricia replied by text.
You told me this would never reach court.
Daniel answered.
May you like
It wouldn't have if you had kept your mouth shut.
