Chapter 16 - What He Signed
June examined the beneficiary form and told us it appeared to be an attempted change, not a completed one. Mom hadn't signed it. The bank confirmed that the request had not gone through.
I almost laughed from relief. Then I remembered how close she'd come to losing everything without even knowing it.
Nico asked to meet us at June's office. Mom agreed on the condition that June stayed and Daphne did not come.
My brother arrived wearing the same shirt he'd worn Sunday. He looked as if he'd slept in his car.
"I owe you both the truth," he said.
He spread bank statements across the table. Fifty-seven thousand dollars from the home-equity loan had gone toward debts from his failed business. The rest had passed through Harbor Care Consulting and into accounts Daphne controlled.
"I knew about the first part," he admitted. "I signed as Mom's agent. I told myself I'd pay it back after we sold our equipment. I didn't question the rest until later."
"And the food?" Mom asked.
He stared at his hands. "There is no excuse."
"I know," she said. "I need you to know it, too."
Nico claimed Daphne had threatened to leave him with the debt if he refused the care placement. Mom listened without softening.
"She didn't make you lock the pantry," she said. "She didn't make you watch me crawl to a bowl. You made those choices."
He nodded. For the first time, he didn't argue.
June explained that admitting wrongdoing to family wasn't the same as providing evidence to investigators. Nico agreed to meet the financial-exploitation investigator and give a full statement, even if it implicated him.
At the doorway he turned toward Mom.
"Can you ever forgive me?"
"I don't know," she answered.
His shoulders fell.
May you like
Then his phone rang. He looked at the screen, went white, and showed June a message from Daphne.
IF YOU TALK, I'LL SAY IT WAS ALL YOUR IDEA.
