Chapter 16 - What He Let Her Believe
Dad asked to meet in Daniel's office.
I refused to see him alone.
By then, I'd learned the difference between giving someone a chance to speak and giving them permission to rewrite the past.
He brought a folder of hospital visitor records and letters.
"Maria came to see your mother," he said.
I stared at him.
"When?"
"About a month before she died."
Mom had been receiving treatment and trying to settle the company's affairs.
According to Dad, Maria had offered to explain the suspicious transactions.
Mom refused to meet her without another person present.
Dad arranged the meeting anyway.
"Why?" I asked.
"I thought they could clear everything up."
The story sounded familiar.
He'd always chosen the appearance of harmony over my mother's stated wishes.
June found a letter Mom wrote after that visit.
She described Maria insisting that the missing payments were harmless errors and asking her to sign a broad release.
Mom refused.
She also wrote that Carter had accused her of holding a grudge.
I looked at Dad.
"You told a dying woman to be the bigger person."
He covered his face.
"I was afraid of losing both of you."
"You were already losing Mom," I said.
"And you chose to make her last weeks harder."
He didn't defend himself.
For once, that silence felt like the beginning of honesty rather than another excuse.
Dad admitted he had known Maria personally long before the wedding.
He also admitted he had been unwilling to examine evidence that might end their relationship.
Those admissions did not establish criminal intent, and his attorney was careful about the written statement.
But they mattered to me.
They confirmed Mom hadn't imagined what was happening.
She had been frightened for my future while the person who promised to protect us refused to listen.
When the meeting ended, Dad stood near the door.
"Could you ever forgive me?"
I took a long breath.
"I don't know."
He nodded, accepting an answer he once would have called disrespectful.
As I gathered my things, Daniel received a new email.
A former bookkeeper had found the archived audit file Mom requested.
And the audit named someone other than Maria as the person who authorized the first suspicious transfer.
May you like
Carter.
