Chapter 8
Julian was charged in connection with the trust distributions.
Angela called before I saw the news. She explained what had happened and reminded me that the case would take time. The bank was working with the investigators to trace the money. Julian’s attorney had begun discussing restitution.
I told Lily before someone at school could show her a headline.
“Will I have to go to court?” she asked.
“We don’t know yet. Angela will tell us what to expect if that changes.”
She glanced toward Dad, who stood beside me.
“Is Grandma’s money really coming back?”
“We’re working on that,” Dad said. “Your future doesn’t depend on Julian keeping a promise.”
She nodded. Then she asked if we could order pizza. I was glad she could still want pizza in the middle of all this.
Simone called me later. She had visited Julian after the charges were announced.
“He asked if I’d persuaded you to take the private offer,” she said.
“You shouldn’t have been asked to do that.”
“I told him so. I said I would visit as his daughter, but I wouldn’t carry messages.”
“How did he take it?”
“He was angry.”
“I’m sorry.”
“I can be angry too,” Simone replied.
We met for coffee the next weekend, just the two of us. She brought photographs from her childhood. In one, I was about eight, grinning with a missing tooth while she pushed me on a swing.
“Mom took this,” she said. “I found it in a drawer.”
“We always got along.”
“We did.”
She looked at the photograph for a moment.
“Do you want me to call you my brother?”
“I’d like that if you want it.”
“I do.”
We both smiled, though I felt the sadness in it too. A relationship we had treasured had acquired a new name because someone finally told us the truth.
Simone asked whether I wanted to know more about Julian when he was young. I said I might later. For now, I wanted us to talk about ourselves.
She told me about her work and the apartment she was renovating. I told her about the design project I hoped would earn me a promotion. We spent most of the afternoon talking about ordinary things.
At home, Dad and Mom made a decision. They would stay married and continue counseling. Dad called me before telling anyone else.
“I don’t want you to think forgiveness happened in a week,” he said. “Your mother has answered hard questions. I still get angry. We’re choosing to keep working.”
“You don’t have to explain your choice to me.”
“I want you to know we’re both taking responsibility for what our home feels like now.”
I respected that. When I visited, they still disagreed about things. They spoke plainly and let the other finish. Lily noticed too.
“Dinner’s less quiet,” she told me.
“Is that good?”
“Yes. Nobody’s hiding in the kitchen afterward.”
I knew what she meant.
The trust case moved toward a resolution. Julian admitted that he had submitted false acknowledgments and used the funds for his business. The agreement required him to repay the money and face penalties. Angela showed us the terms and answered every question Lily and I had before we agreed to the parts concerning us.
I signed only after reading every page.
Lily took even longer. Nobody rushed her. She asked what would happen if Julian missed a payment. Angela explained the safeguards in the agreement.
“Okay,” Lily said. “Now I understand.”
Dad smiled at her. “Grandma Celia would approve of those questions.”
When the first recovered payment reached my account, I stared at the number. I had wanted that money at eighteen, when it could have changed my choices. At twenty-four, it would help me build the life I was already working toward.
I used a small part to pay off the last of my student debt. I set the rest aside while I considered what I wanted to do.
Lily decided to put her recovered share toward college and the art program she had once worried was too expensive. She showed me the acceptance email with tears in her eyes.
“Grandma helped,” she said.
“She meant to.”
That night, Julian sent a letter through Angela. He admitted taking the funds. He also wrote that he hoped I would visit him someday because he was my biological father.
May you like
I read it once. I put it away without replying.
I had time to decide what, if anything, I wanted to say to him. For the first time since the envelope appeared on the dinner table, nobody else was setting the deadline.
