Chapter 2
Robert moved so quickly that I barely had time to react.
"Give me that."
He reached across the table.
I pulled the envelope away.
"Why?"
His face tightened.
"Because it might be private."
I stared at him.
"My name is written on it."
Elena stepped between us.
"Will you two stop fighting?"
I ignored her.
"Robert, have you seen this before?"
"No."
The answer came too fast.
I looked at Miriam.
She shook her head.
"I've never seen it."
I broke the seal.
Inside were three folded pages and a small photograph.
The photograph showed Robert standing outside a downtown office building beside a woman I recognized.
Her name was Patricia Wells.
She was Elena's wedding planner.
I frowned.
Patricia had been recommended by Robert three months earlier.
She was efficient, charming, and expensive.
I'd paid her a twelve-thousand-dollar planning fee.
Why was she meeting Robert outside a private office?
I unfolded the first page.
At the top were the words:
PROPERTY TRANSFER PROPOSAL.
My stomach tightened.
The document listed a commercial property in my name.
A small shopping plaza I'd purchased fourteen years earlier.
I owned it before Miriam and I moved into our current house.
Its rental income helped pay for Elena's college education.
I turned to the next page.
There was a proposed transfer of my ownership interest to a newly formed company.
I stared at the company name.
Wells-Carter Holdings.
My heart began pounding.
Robert's surname was Bennett.
Patricia's surname was Wells.
Why was my name connected to a company I'd never heard of?
I looked at Robert.
"What is this?"
He folded his arms.
"How should I know?"
I held up the document.
"It proposes transferring my property."
Miriam gasped.
"What?"
Elena looked confused.
"What property?"
"The shopping plaza on Westbrook Avenue."
Her eyes widened.
"The one near the hospital?"
I nodded.
Robert suddenly spoke.
"Daniel, you're misunderstanding."
I turned toward him.
"Then explain it."
He hesitated.
"Patricia mentioned an investment opportunity."
I stared at him.
"Using my property?"
"No. Not exactly."
I held up the document.
"My name is here."
Robert glanced toward Elena.
"Can we discuss this privately?"
"No."
My voice was firm.
"Everyone in this room is affected."
Elena looked between us.
"Dad, what is he talking about?"
Robert stepped closer.
"Sweetheart, don't worry about it."
I almost laughed.
There it was.
The same easy confidence he'd used when he reappeared in Elena's life.
Everything was going to be fine.
Everyone should trust him.
Nobody should ask questions.
I unfolded the third page.
This one contained a draft letter.
It was addressed to me.
The writer claimed that unless I agreed to a financial arrangement, information about Elena's biological family would become public.
I read the sentence twice.
Then looked up.
"Robert, what information?"
His face went pale.
Miriam reached for the paper.
I handed it to her.
She read silently.
Then whispered, "Oh, my God."
Elena grabbed the page.
"What is everyone hiding?"
Robert stepped toward her.
"Elena, don't read that."
She pulled away.
"Why?"
He said nothing.
Her eyes moved across the page.
Then widened.
"What's this about a trust account?"
I froze.
A trust account?
I took the page back.
There it was.
A reference to a custodial account established years earlier for Elena's benefit.
I looked at Miriam.
"Did you know about this?"
She shook her head.
"No."
Elena stared at Robert.
"Dad?"
He rubbed his forehead.
"Listen, this is complicated."
I placed the documents on the table.
"Then start talking."
For several seconds, Robert said nothing.
Then he looked toward the living room window.
"Elena's grandfather left her some money."
Miriam went completely still.
"Your father?"
Robert nodded.
"My father died eight years ago."
I frowned.
I'd known his father had passed away.
But nobody had mentioned an inheritance.
"How much?" I asked.
Robert hesitated.
Elena stared at him.
"Dad, how much?"
He swallowed.
"About two hundred thousand dollars."
The room fell silent.
I looked at Elena.
Her face was pale.
Then I looked at Miriam.
She looked equally shocked.
"Two hundred thousand?" she whispered.
Robert nodded.
"Originally."
My stomach tightened.
"Originally?"
He looked away.
I stepped closer.
"What happened to it?"
Robert remained silent.
Elena's voice shook.
"Daddy?"
He finally answered.
"I used some of it."
Miriam covered her mouth.
"Robert."
He lifted his hands.
"It was supposed to be temporary."
I stared at him.
"You spent money that belonged to your daughter?"
"I borrowed against it."
"Without telling her?"
He looked at Elena.
"I was going to replace it."
She stepped backward.
"Replace what?"
Robert's expression collapsed.
I felt a terrible realization forming.
The expensive gifts.
The sudden return.
The promises.
The wedding planning.
Robert hadn't simply reappeared because he missed his daughter.
He might have returned because he needed access to something connected to her.
I looked at the documents again.
"How much is left?"
Robert rubbed his face.
"Daniel—"
"How much?"
He finally whispered, "Not enough."
Elena began crying.
I looked at the clock.
Tomorrow morning, more than two hundred guests were supposed to gather for her wedding.
The contracts were unfinished.
The financial arrangements were collapsing.
And the man she'd chosen to honor had just admitted taking money meant for her future.
But something else bothered me.
The envelope had been placed inside my wedding folder.
Someone wanted me to discover this before the ceremony.
Someone close enough to enter our home.
Someone who knew the family's secrets.
I picked up the photograph again.
Patricia Wells.
The wedding planner.
Then I noticed a date printed at the bottom.
Three weeks earlier.
I remembered that date.
Patricia had visited our house to finalize the wedding timeline.
She'd asked to use my study.
I had agreed.
My stomach turned.
I looked at Robert.
"Who put these documents in my folder?"
He shook his head.
"I don't know."
I didn't believe him.
Before I could ask another question, Elena's phone rang.
She looked at the screen.
Her expression changed.
"It's Nathan."
Nathan Brooks.
Her fiancé.
A decent young man I'd grown to love like a son.
Elena answered.
"Hi."
I watched her face.
Then she whispered, "What?"
Her eyes widened.
"No. That can't be right."
She looked toward me.
"Dad."
This time, she was looking directly at me.
I stepped closer.
"What happened?"
Her voice broke.
"Nathan says the venue just called him."
I felt my stomach tighten.
"What did they say?"
Elena began crying harder.
"They said someone submitted a request to change the wedding contract."
I stared at her.
"What kind of change?"
She covered her mouth.
Then whispered something that made every person in the room go still.
"The contract now lists Robert as the financial guarantor."
I slowly turned toward Robert.
May you like
He looked terrified.
And suddenly, I understood why he'd been so desperate to grab that envelope.
