Chapter 8 - The Answer
Melissa didn't answer immediately.
That was worse than a lie.
Owen stood in the kitchen waiting.
Melissa finally whispered, "I tried."
Owen's face crumpled.
I moved between them.
"Rachel."
She took all three kids upstairs.
I turned back.
"You tried?"
Melissa wiped her face.
"When I married you, I thought I could."
"You knew I had a son."
"I knew."
"And you married me anyway."
"Because I loved you."
"Then what changed?"
She looked toward the blue notebook pages on the counter.
"That."
Melissa claimed she discovered the firstborn trust six months earlier while searching my office for insurance papers.
She told Grant.
Grant recognized the Bennett name from his father's old investment records.
He became convinced my mother had hidden money that belonged to his family.
"So you decided Owen stole it by being born first?"
"I didn't think of it like that."
"Of course you didn't."
David arrived with another update.
Walter Briggs had been suspended by the bank.
Federal investigators were reviewing the attempted transfer.
Grant had stopped answering calls.
And someone had accessed Owen's school account using Melissa's email.
I looked at her.
"What did you do at his school?"
"Nothing."
I called the principal.
The answer made me sit down.
Three weeks earlier, someone submitted a request to remove me as Owen's primary emergency contact.
They also added Grant.
The attached form carried my signature.
Forged again.
"Why would Grant need school access?" I asked.
Melissa said nothing.
Then the principal emailed a scanned document.
It was not just an emergency-contact change.
It authorized Grant to pick Owen up without calling me.
The effective date was tomorrow.
I looked at Melissa.
She started shaking her head.
"I didn't know about that."
David asked, "If you didn't file it, who did?"
May you like
Melissa whispered one name.
"Walter."
