Chapter 5
Tiana read the letter aloud at her kitchen table.
I sat beside Mom. Jayden and Renee sat across from us.
Leon had written that Isaiah’s account permissions could not authorize the largest transfers. He also described an instruction from Dad to hold back internal records until “the legal team resolved the matter.”
At the bottom, Leon wrote:
I am afraid we are allowing an innocent man to accept responsibility.
Nobody spoke when Tiana finished.
Renee pressed both hands over her mouth.
Jayden stared at the table.
I looked at Tiana.
“Why didn’t he send it?”
“I wish I knew.”
She had defended her father before. Tonight, she didn’t.
“He kept the letter. He kept the records. He still stayed quiet.”
Mom reached toward her, but Tiana shook her head gently.
“I need to say that.”
The new attorney reviewing Isaiah’s case, Samuel Price, asked for the originals and the recording. He explained that Dad’s statement alone would not prove every part of the case.
The financial records mattered. So did the missing letter.
“We’ll compare them against what was presented originally,” he said. “There may be grounds to ask the court to reopen the conviction.”
Renee closed her eyes.
“How long?”
“I can’t honestly give you a date.”
I had begun to hate that answer.
I also trusted it more than a promise made to soothe us.
While Samuel worked, Valerie pursued Mom’s records and my grandmother’s education trust.
We learned that the fund was not Dad’s personal money.
Grandma had placed it in a trust for my education. Dad served as one of the people managing it.
There had been withdrawals I didn’t recognize.
Valerie would not let me jump straight from suspicion to accusation.
“We’re asking what the withdrawals paid for,” she said. “If they didn’t meet the trust’s terms, that needs to be addressed.”
Dad’s attorney sent an explanation.
The money had been used for “family educational expenses.”
I had never attended the private seminars listed in the response. Neither had Mom.
One charge covered a business retreat.
I stared at the receipt.
“He used my college fund?”
“Possibly,” Valerie said. “We’re documenting it.”
I wanted to march back into the house and demand the envelope.
Instead, I applied for campus emergency aid and met my financial aid counselor.
She listened while I explained that my family’s support had abruptly changed.
“We can review your situation,” she said. “Bring the documents you have. You should keep attending class.”
Keeping up with class felt almost impossible.
I sat through lectures thinking about a prison visiting room. I opened textbooks and heard Dad’s recorded voice.
One afternoon, my professor asked me to stay behind.
“You’ve missed two assignments.”
“I know.”
“Do you need an extension?”
I nearly said no.
Dad had always told me capable people did not make excuses.
Then I remembered Isaiah telling me I could ask what I needed to know.
“Yes,” I said. “I need a little time.”
The professor gave me a plan with dates. I followed it.
Jayden picked me up after my next class. We walked without discussing the case for ten minutes.
He asked about my assignment.
I told him.
It felt strange to talk about something that belonged to our life before the party.
“I missed you,” I said.
“I’m right here.”
“I know. I missed this.”
We bought cheap sandwiches and sat outside.
Then his phone rang.
It was his mother.
Dad had called her.
He offered to pay her legal bills if she agreed to stop discussing the matter publicly and keep Tiana from sharing more documents.
Jayden handed me the phone when Renee asked to speak.
“I told him everything goes through Samuel now,” she said.
“What did he say?”
“That people were confusing old mistakes with crimes.”
I closed my eyes.
Old mistakes.
Eight years of Isaiah’s life.
After the call, I told Mom. She contacted Valerie immediately.
That evening, Dad called me.
I answered because I wanted him to hear my voice clearly.
“Did you offer Renee money to be quiet?”
“I offered help.”
“With conditions.”
“Everyone needs to calm down.”
“Isaiah has been waiting eight years.”
“You’re listening to people who hate me.”
“I’m listening to people you hurt.”
Dad breathed hard.
“You have no idea what it took to build this family’s life.”
“I’m finding out.”
He went silent.
Then he said, “If you think I’m so terrible, return everything I gave you.”
I looked at the laptop on Tiana’s table.
“I’m willing to account for what belongs to you,” I said. “Are you willing to account for what belongs to me?”
He ended the call.
I was shaking afterward. Mom sat beside me until it stopped.
The next morning, Tiana received a notice from Dad’s attorney demanding the return of Leon’s company records.
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At the same time, Samuel called Renee.
He had found that several documents used against Isaiah did not match the original versions in Leon’s files.
