Chapter 17 - The Beginning of the Marriage
Dad read the guest list alone.
“She asked me about Elaine that night.”
I stood by the window.
“What did she say?”
“That she had lost someone too.”
“Had she?”
“I don’t know anymore.”
He looked around the room.
“I thought she understood me.”
“She understood the file.”
That hurt him.
I did not take it back.
Planning.
Not fate.
Dad cried quietly.
“I wasted eleven years.”
“No.”
He looked up.
“You had Chloe.”
He nodded.
That mattered too.
The criminal case moved forward.
Forgery.
Identity theft.
Attempted property fraud.
Evidence destruction.
Possible trust-related charges.
Gwendolyn’s attorney negotiated.
Maya asked me what I wanted.
“My money back.”
“And prison?”
“That’s not my decision.”
“You can influence the plea.”
I thought about it.
“I want the record to say what happened.”
Gwendolyn eventually signed a detailed factual admission.
She had targeted Dad because of the trust connection.
She had used Chloe’s signature.
She had worked with Victor.
She had created ELM Consulting.
She had planned the fake sale.
She had forged my consent for the loan.
Dad signed his own admission too.
Breach of fiduciary duty.
False affidavit.
Unauthorized trust transaction.
His lawyer negotiated civil repayment and cooperation.
He was not innocent.
He was also not the architect.
The court appointed a receiver to unwind the assets.
Three rentals were sold.
The brokerage account liquidated.
Desert Star seized.
The $780,000 loan was repaid.
My trust received restitution.
Then Maya called with the final number.
“Paige, after fees, taxes, and recovery, you’re receiving about $4.9 million.”
I stared at the hillside view.
Money returning did not make me feel victorious.
It felt like getting back something stolen so long ago I had learned to live without it.
Then Maya added, “There’s one unresolved issue.”
“What?”
“The childhood house.”
Dad owned forty percent.
I owned sixty.
“What does Dad want?”
May you like
“He says that’s up to you.”
For once, he was not asking me to keep the peace.
