Chapter 9 - Dad Finally Told the Truth
Richard spent two days denying that Martin manipulated him.
On the third, he asked Claire to meet him alone.
They sat at Grandma's old farmhouse.
He looked smaller there.
“I wanted to prove your grandmother wrong,” he admitted.
“About what?”
“She never trusted my judgment.”
Claire waited.
Richard explained that his business had been struggling.
Martin offered investment opportunities.
Richard lost money.
Then more.
He borrowed against assets without telling Patricia.
By the time Grandma discovered it, Richard was desperate.
Martin suggested selling part of Eleanor's property.
She refused.
After her death, Richard believed Claire would eventually approve.
When she didn't return home, he allowed himself to pretend her consent was inevitable.
“You stole from me because you were embarrassed to admit you failed.”
Richard lowered his eyes.
“Yes.”
The admission should have satisfied Claire.
It didn't.
“Why did you hate my career?”
Richard looked surprised.
“I didn't hate it.”
“You mocked it.”
“I didn't understand it.”
“You never tried.”
Silence.
Then he confessed something Claire never expected.
Her success frightened him.
Every promotion reminded him that the daughter he dismissed had become someone independent of his approval.
So he minimized her accomplishments.
Not because they were small.
Because they were too large for the version of Claire he wanted to believe.
Claire stood.
“I spent years wondering what was wrong with me.”
Richard's eyes filled.
“Nothing.”
She looked at him.
“It's a little late.”
“Yes.”
For once, he didn't defend himself.
Claire left.
Outside, Tiffany waited beside her car.
She handed Claire a coffee.
“What happened?”
“He told the truth.”
“Did it help?”
Claire considered that.
“A little.”
Then Tiffany's phone rang.
Agent Reeves.
Martin Cole had disappeared.
And investigators believed Gregory Shaw was with him.
Two men connected to multiple fraudulent estates were now missing.
But before disappearing, Martin had transferred nearly four million dollars.
The destination account carried a familiar name.
May you like
Tiffany Bennett.
---
