Chapter 12 - ROBERT’S PRICE
Robert denied it for exactly four minutes.
Then Daniel placed the cashier’s check on the table.
They had returned to Robert’s office before sunrise.
He stared at the copy, his face gray.
“That was a loan repayment.”
“From Mom?” Daniel asked.
“Yes.”
“For what loan?”
Robert said nothing.
Claire slammed both palms on the table.
“Stop lying.”
Robert flinched.
Emily had never seen Claire angry before. Not like this.
“You watched her run me out of this family,” Claire said. “You signed things you never saw signed. You told Daniel I was unstable. And you took seventy-five thousand dollars.”
Robert sank into his chair.
“I owed money.”
“To whom?”
“Does it matter?”
“Yes,” Daniel said. “It matters because she bought your silence.”
Robert covered his face.
His gambling losses had started after his wife died. Margaret found out. She paid one debt, then another. Every favor became leverage.
“She told me the codicil only corrected technical language,” he said. “I knew Thomas hadn’t signed it in front of me. I told myself he must have signed it earlier.”
“You told yourself whatever kept the money clean,” Claire said.
Robert looked broken.
Emily didn’t feel sorry for him.
Not yet.
“Was the codicil forged?” Daniel asked.
“I believe so.”
“Believe?”
“I know.”
The room went silent.
Robert opened a locked drawer and took out a notebook.
“I started keeping records after Thomas died. Dates. Requests. Things Margaret asked me to do.”
Daniel stared at it.
“Why?”
“Because I knew one day she’d say none of it happened.”
Claire laughed bitterly. “So you documented the crimes you kept helping with.”
Robert nodded once.
“Yes.”
Emily turned the pages.
There were notes about the codicil, the fake deed, the holding company, and a planned transfer of Sweet Ember shares.
Then she saw an entry from three weeks earlier.
M. says birthday dinner is final opportunity. If E. refuses papers, create incident. D. must be made to choose publicly.
Emily’s skin went cold.
“The cake wasn’t spontaneous.”
Robert shook his head.
“No.”
Daniel read the next line.
His expression changed.
M. says if D. chooses E., release hospital record.
Daniel looked up.
May you like
“What hospital record?”
• • •
