Chapter 6
The criminal charges came on a Monday morning.
Forgery.
Fraud.
Theft involving trust property.
Falsification of financial records.
Additional charges were still being investigated.
Julian surrendered through his attorney.
His mugshot appeared online before lunch.
I hated seeing it.
Not because I felt sorry for him.
Because Liam saw it too.
He came home from school furious.
“Everyone knows.”
My heart sank.
“Did someone say something?”
“Tyler showed everybody the picture.”
I closed my eyes.
“I’m sorry.”
“Dad looks like a criminal.”
I didn't know what to say.
Liam threw his backpack down.
“Is he?”
“Those are accusations right now.”
“He did it.”
“We still let the court decide.”
“You know he did.”
“I know what the evidence appears to show.”
Liam glared at me.
“Why are you defending him?”
“I'm not.”
“Yes, you are!”
He ran upstairs.
I followed more slowly.
He wasn't angry at me.
Not really.
He was drowning.
That evening, I contacted a child therapist Rebecca recommended.
Liam protested.
“I'm not crazy.”
“Therapy isn't for crazy people.”
“Then why do I need it?”
“Because you're carrying adult problems that are too heavy to carry alone.”
“What if I don't want to talk?”
“Then you don't have to.”
He eventually agreed.
It helped.
Not immediately.
But gradually.
He learned to separate his father's actions from his identity.
So did I.
Meanwhile, Victoria became a key witness.
She turned over emails, account statements, and messages.
In exchange, prosecutors made no immediate promises.
She had signed some documents without reading them.
Others contained signatures she denied making.
Her own financial exposure was serious.
One afternoon, she called me crying.
“I might lose everything.”
I was quiet.
She laughed bitterly.
“I know. I deserve no sympathy from you.”
“I'm not sure what you deserve.”
“That makes two of us.”
She paused.
“I sold the gown.”
“What?”
“The silver one.”
“The gala dress?”
“Yes.”
“Why are you telling me?”
“I donated the money to a legal-aid organization.”
I didn't respond.
“It doesn't fix anything,” she said.
“No.”
“I know.”
There was something different about her now.
Less performance.
More consequence.
“I used to think being chosen by Julian meant I won,” she whispered.
I closed my eyes.
“So did everyone at the gala.”
“He made me feel like I was better than you.”
“That was useful to him.”
“Yes.”
I understood exactly how.
If Victoria believed I was weak and bitter, she would never compare notes with me.
If I believed she was a calculating thief, I would never listen to her.
Julian didn't just manipulate women individually.
He positioned us against each other.
It kept him safe.
Until Liam opened one envelope.
The lake-property case moved faster than expected.
A forensic document examiner concluded my signatures on three major transfers had likely been forged.
Rachel found diverted funds totaling more than two million dollars in addition to the land.
Daniel filed a civil action seeking return of the trust assets.
Julian's attorneys began negotiating.
Then he did something none of us expected.
He blamed Victoria.
According to a court filing, she had masterminded the transfers.
I nearly laughed when Daniel told me.
Victoria did not.
She released another recording to prosecutors.
Julian's voice again.
If this ever blows up, the accounts are in your name. You understand what that means.
Victoria's voice in the recording sounded nervous.
Why are you saying that?
Relax. I'm joking.
But he hadn't been.
He had created an escape route.
She was supposed to become the villain if everything collapsed.
Victoria called me after reading his filing.
“I thought he loved me.”
I heard the devastation in her voice.
I could have said, I told you so.
Years earlier, I might have wanted to.
Instead I said, “I'm sorry.”
She started crying.
“Why are you being nice to me?”
“I'm not forgetting what you did.”
“I know.”
“But I know what it feels like to realize someone built your relationship on lies.”
Silence.
Then:
“Thank you.”
Two months later, the civil court froze several properties and accounts.
The Lake Ashford transfer was preliminarily ruled invalid pending final judgment.
For the first time, I drove out to see the property.
Mom came.
So did Liam.
The land was beautiful.
Tall trees.
A long slope toward blue water.
An old cottage sat near the shore.
Grandma Rose had apparently used it decades earlier before illness made travel difficult.
I remembered vague childhood summers.
A porch.
Fireflies.
My father's old fishing pole.
I suddenly recognized the cottage.
“I've been here.”
Mom smiled sadly.
“When you were little.”
“Why didn't I remember?”
“You were eight the last summer we came.”
Liam ran toward the dock.
I laughed.
“Careful!”
He turned.
“This is ours?”
I looked at Daniel.
“Potentially,” he said.
Liam stared at the water.
“Dad tried to steal all this?”
The joy left his face.
I walked beside him.
“Don't let that be the first thing you think when you see it.”
“What should I think?”
I looked toward the cottage.
“Grandma Rose.”
He smiled faintly.
We spent the afternoon cleaning the porch.
Inside an old cabinet, Mom found photographs.
One showed Grandma Rose standing on the dock.
Another showed me beside her as a child.
I was missing my two front teeth.
Liam laughed for five minutes.
“You looked ridiculous.”
“Respect your mother.”
“No.”
I chased him around the porch.
Mom sat laughing.
For several hours, Julian disappeared from our lives.
That night, we ate sandwiches by the water.
Liam rested his head on my shoulder.
“Can we keep this place?”
“If the court returns it.”
“Would you sell it?”
I looked at the sunset.
“No.”
“Good.”
He became quiet.
Then:
“Mom?”
“Yes?”
“I'm glad I found the papers.”
I kissed his hair.
“So am I.”
“Even though everything got bad?”
“Everything was already bad.”
He looked up.
“The papers just helped us see it.”
He nodded.
That was when my phone rang.
Rebecca.
I answered.
“What's wrong?”
“Julian wants to change his plea strategy.”
“What does that mean?”
“He wants to negotiate the criminal case.”
My heart began pounding.
“Is he admitting what he did?”
“Not exactly.”
Of course.
“What does he want?”
Rebecca hesitated.
“He's offering information about another person involved in the transfers.”
I frowned.
“Who?”
“You need to prepare yourself.”
“For what?”
“The accountant whose voice was on Victoria's recording.”
“Yes?”
Rebecca took a breath.
“He says the accountant wasn't working alone.”
My stomach tightened.
“Who else was involved?”
“Someone in your family.”
I stopped breathing.
“What?”
“Julian claims one of your relatives helped him access Grandma Rose's trust records years ago.”
I looked toward my mother sitting near the lake.
Then toward Liam.
My voice became barely audible.
“Which relative?”
Rebecca answered.
May you like
And the ground beneath me seemed to move.
“My brother.”
