Chapter 4: The Son Who Chose Too Quickly
My phone was already in my hand when Richard spoke.
“Do not call your brother.”
“Why?” I asked.
“Because he witnessed something Mom never signed?”
“Because you don’t understand what happened.”
Mom dialed Daniel herself and put the call on speaker.
He answered on the third ring.
“Mom?
Dad said there’s some kind of emergency.”
“Did you witness my signature on a bank document dated March 14?”
Silence filled the kitchen.
“Daniel?” she said.
“I signed a witness page for Dad,” he finally answered.
“He said you had already approved it.”
“I wasn’t there.”
Richard leaned toward the phone.
“Tell her it was routine.”
“Dad said the company needed temporary credit,” Daniel replied.
“Mom, I thought you knew.”
“You didn’t see me sign it?”
“No.”
Mom closed her eyes.
“Then why did you write that you did?”
“Because he’s my father.”
Richard folded his arms.
“There.
It was a family misunderstanding.”
Harriet shook her head.
“A false witness statement used to secure $240,000 is not a misunderstanding.”
Daniel’s voice rose.
“Why is a lawyer there?
Mom, are you trying to destroy the company?”
The words struck harder than Richard’s anger.
Mom’s shoulders dropped, and the envelope slipped from her fingers.
“I built that company too,” she said.
“But Dad runs it.”
“I missed school plays, birthdays, and Christmas dinners balancing those accounts.
I sold my mother’s jewelry to cover payroll during the first recession.”
“Dad never told us that.”
“No,” Mom whispered.
“He let you believe I merely answered the telephone.”
Richard reached to end the call, but I moved the phone away.
“Daniel, come here,” I said.
“Look at the papers yourself.”
“I’m driving over.”
The call ended.
Mom gathered the fallen pages, but her hands would not cooperate.
Chloe knelt and helped her.
“I’m sorry,” Chloe said.
Mom stared at her.
“For which part?”
“For coming here with a suitcase.
For believing him because it was easier than asking harder questions.”
“You knew he had a wife.”
“I knew.” Chloe placed the last page in Mom’s hands.
“There is no excuse for that.”
Mom’s mouth tightened, and tears finally spilled down her cheeks.
I put my arms around her, but she kept looking at Chloe.
“He told me my children would understand,” Mom said.
“Now my son thinks I’m destroying his father.”
Chloe pulled out her phone.
“Then Daniel should hear what his father said about him.”
Richard crossed the kitchen in two steps.
“Give me that.”
Chloe backed away.
“You left voice messages whenever you were angry.”
“You recorded private conversations?”
“You recorded yourself.”
She tapped the screen.
Richard’s voice filled the room.
“Daniel signs anything I hand him.
He’s desperate for my approval.
Once the loan clears, I’ll move the money before Patricia notices.”
Mom covered her mouth.
Richard grabbed for the phone, but Harriet stepped between them.
“Touch her or that device, and I make an immediate call.”
“You can’t use that recording,” he said.
“It was private.”
“I can give it to the bank,” Chloe replied.
“And I can tell them about every paper you asked me to sign.”
A car door slammed outside.
Daniel entered without knocking and stopped beside the table.
“Play it again.”
Richard raised both hands.
“Son, she edited it.”
“Play it again,” Daniel repeated.
Chloe did.
Daniel listened without moving.
When the message ended, he looked at Richard.
“Was I ever anything more than a useful signature?”
“Don’t be dramatic.
Everything I did was for this family.”
“You borrowed against Mom’s home.”
“Our home,” Richard corrected.
Harriet’s phone vibrated.
She read the message and turned the screen toward Mom.
“The joint savings account was emptied at 8:42 this morning.”
Mom looked at Richard.
“Where is the money?”
“Safe.”
“Where?”
“Beyond your reach.”
Harriet opened her laptop and checked another file.
“There’s more.
The company warehouse is under a pending sale contract.”
Daniel’s face changed.
“You can’t sell it without Mom’s approval.”
Richard picked up his keys from the floor.
“I already did.”
Harriet enlarged the contract, and a company name appeared beneath the buyer’s line.
Daniel read it aloud.
“Mercer Holdings?
Dad—that’s my employer.”
