Chapter 2
The applause stopped.
I stared at my son.
“What are you talking about?”
He heard me.
Even from the stage.
But before he could answer, Principal Whitmore approached the microphone.
“Perhaps we should continue the ceremony.”
Caspian nodded.
He looked calm.
Too calm.
“I’m sorry, sir.”
Then he looked at the audience.
“I’ll finish this later.”
The ceremony continued.
Mine did not.
I barely heard another name.
Naomi pulled me into the front-row seat someone had finally opened.
Ironically, it was Seraphine’s brother who stood and moved.
Seraphine remained seated two chairs away.
Dalton leaned toward Caspian’s empty chair as though he could somehow stop what had already happened.
When the ceremony ended, graduates flooded the auditorium.
Caspian came straight to me.
I hugged him so tightly his cap fell off.
“You scared me.”
“I’m sorry.”
“What did you mean?”
He looked over my shoulder.
Dalton was approaching.
Seraphine followed.
“Caspian.”
Dalton’s voice carried that old authority he used whenever he wanted everyone to remember he was a successful attorney.
“We need to talk privately.”
Caspian stepped beside me.
“No.”
Seraphine gave a nervous laugh.
“Don’t be childish.”
My son looked at her.
“You took my mother’s seat.”
“Oh, please. That’s what this is about?”
“No.”
His face became cold.
“That’s just why I stopped protecting you.”
I felt something twist inside me.
“Protecting them from what?”
Caspian looked at me.
“Can we go somewhere else?”
Dalton grabbed his shoulder.
“Not until you explain what you meant.”
Caspian looked at Dalton’s hand.
“Take your hand off me.”
Dalton froze.
I had never heard our son speak to him like that.
Slowly, Dalton let go.
Seraphine crossed her arms.
“This is ridiculous.”
Caspian turned toward her.
“Is it?”
“Yes.”
“Then you won’t mind if Mum sees the documents.”
Her face changed.
Barely.
But I caught it.
“What documents?”
Caspian didn’t answer.
Naomi stepped between us.
“We’re leaving.”
We walked toward the parking lot.
Dalton followed.
“Miranda!”
I stopped.
My name sounded strange in his mouth now.
He used to call me Mira.
Then our marriage fell apart.
Then he became Dalton Hale, attorney, partner, community leader.
And I became the ex-wife who embarrassed him by still driving a twelve-year-old Honda.
“What?”
“You need to control him.”
I stared.
“He’s eighteen.”
“He is still your son.”
“Our son.”
Dalton looked away.
There it was.
That tiny correction had always irritated him after the divorce.
Shared responsibility.
Shared history.
Shared truth.
Seraphine joined him.
“He’s upset because graduation is emotional.”
Caspian laughed.
“No.”
He pulled out his phone.
“I’m upset because I found this.”
He tapped the screen.
Then held it toward me.
A photograph.
A legal document.
I recognized Dalton’s name.
Mine too.
“What is this?”
Caspian swallowed.
“Our divorce settlement.”
I frowned.
“I have a copy.”
“Not this version.”
My stomach tightened.
“What do you mean?”
“The version filed with the court has an attachment missing from yours.”
Dalton stepped forward.
“That is enough.”
Caspian ignored him.
“What attachment?”
I asked.
He looked at me.
“An investment account.”
My heart slowed.
“What investment account?”
“One Granddad created before he died.”
I stared.
My father died when Caspian was six.
He had owned a small medical supply company.
Not rich.
Comfortable.
Generous.
“He left you money?”
Caspian shook his head.
“You.”
My mouth went dry.
“How much?”
“Originally?”
He looked at Dalton.
“About four hundred thousand dollars.”
I almost laughed.
“That’s impossible.”
“It isn’t.”
Dalton spoke sharply.
“It was handled during the divorce.”
I turned toward him.
“You told me there were no significant assets outside the house and retirement accounts.”
“There weren’t.”
Caspian held up his phone.
“That account was worth four hundred and twenty-three thousand dollars when you divorced.”
Dalton’s face tightened.
Naomi whispered, “Oh my God.”
I looked at my ex-husband.
“Where is it?”
He didn’t answer.
“Dalton.”
Seraphine stepped in.
“This is hardly the place.”
“No.”
I stared at him.
“This is exactly the place.”
Dalton lowered his voice.
“Your father made me trustee.”
“That doesn’t answer her,” Caspian said.
I looked at my son.
“How did you find this?”
“I applied for a scholarship through Granddad’s old foundation.”
I remembered.
“Two months ago.”
He nodded.
“They asked about family trusts.”
“I told you we didn’t have one.”
“That made me curious.”
Dalton snapped.
“You had no right to go digging through private financial records.”
Caspian turned.
“They were records with my mother’s name on them.”
I felt dizzy.
“How much is left?”
Caspian looked at me.
His silence frightened me.
“How much?”
“Nothing.”
The parking lot seemed to tilt.
Naomi caught my arm.
“What do you mean nothing?”
Caspian unlocked another document.
“Withdrawals started eight months before the divorce was final.”
I looked at Dalton.
“You took it.”
“No.”
“You were trustee.”
“It wasn’t that simple.”
“How is taking four hundred thousand dollars not simple?”
“It was invested.”
“Where?”
Silence.
Then Seraphine said:
“Dalton, don’t.”
Every eye turned toward her.
My stomach turned cold.
“You knew.”
She immediately shook her head.
“No.”
Caspian gave a bitter smile.
“You should stop lying.”
He held up another file.
“This one has your name.”
Seraphine’s expression collapsed.
Dalton stepped toward Caspian.
“Give me that phone.”
“No.”
“Now.”
I moved between them.
“You will not touch him.”
Dalton stared at me.
Then something happened that had not happened in years.
He backed down.
Caspian looked at me.
“There’s more.”
My heart sank.
“What?”
“The account wasn’t lost.”
He swallowed.
“It was transferred.”
“To who?”
May you like
He looked directly at Seraphine.
“To a company she owns.”
