Chapter 7
I put Dad’s photograph on the table and called Priya.
She asked me to send her a picture of the note and keep the original. Then she asked how I felt about attending the hearing.
“I want to be there,” I said.
“You may hear things that are upsetting.”
“I’m already upset.”
When I hung up, I looked at Grandma’s face in the photograph. She had taken Marcus and me to a summer fair that day. I remembered her buying us both lemonade because she refused to make us share one cup.
Dad had chosen that photograph because he knew I would remember.
I placed it in the folder with the other records.
At the hearing, Dad sat across the room with his lawyer. Mother sat near Priya. Madison came with Daniel, but they sat apart from both sides.
Marcus took the chair beside me.
The judge reviewed the trust agreement, the bank records, and the forms bearing my name. Dad’s lawyer argued that the transfers were legitimate family expenses and that I had approved them.
I wanted to stand up and shout. Priya touched my arm and told the judge I was prepared to testify.
When my turn came, I spoke into a microphone that made my voice sound unfamiliar.
I told the judge about my hospital stay. I told her Dad had said Grandma’s trust had no money left for me. I identified both signatures bearing my name and said I had signed neither form.
Dad stared straight ahead.
Priya showed the judge the copy Mother had found. She also submitted my hospital records showing I was receiving treatment on the day the form claimed I had come to Dad’s office to sign it.
I had not known about that detail until Priya asked for the records.
Dad’s lawyer rose. He suggested I might have signed the form at another time and forgotten because I had been ill.
I felt my hands turn cold.
Then Dr. Chen’s note was read. On the date in question, I had been too unwell to leave the hospital ward. The form stated I had signed in person miles away.
Marcus squeezed my hand beneath the table.
Mother testified next. She told the judge when she had found the first form and what Dad had said when she asked about it.
“He told me it was temporary,” she said. “I wanted to believe him.”
Priya asked why she had given us the copy.
Mother looked at me. “Because my daughter never received that money, and I should have helped her sooner.”
It was the first time I had heard Mother say it in front of strangers.
Madison then confirmed that the second signature was not hers. She admitted Dad had told her the trust was helping pay for the wedding, and that she had not checked with me.
Daniel lowered his eyes. Madison kept hers on the judge.
By the end of the hearing, the temporary restriction remained in place. The judge also ordered a fuller accounting and appointed someone independent to oversee the trust while the case continued.
It was a step forward. It did not yet tell us where all the money had gone.
In the corridor, Dad approached me.
Priya and Marcus stayed close.
“You enjoyed that,” he said.
“No.”
“You sat there while your mother and sister turned on me.”
“I told the judge what happened.”
“You think a judge can put this family back together?”
“I didn’t ask her to.”
His face tightened. For a second, I thought he might say something else. Then his lawyer called him away.
Outside, Madison stood beneath the courthouse steps with Daniel. He was speaking to her quietly. She shook her head and came toward me alone.
“Daniel and I postponed the wedding,” she said.
“I’m sorry you’re hurting.”
She looked surprised.
“I’m still angry with you,” I added. “Both things are true.”
“I know.”
She glanced at my cheek, though the mark had faded days ago.
“I watched the video,” she said. “I made myself watch it all the way through. I’m sorry, Sarah.”
Her eyes filled, but she did not reach for me.
I thanked her for telling the judge the truth. It was all I could offer.
Over the next few weeks, the accounting began to take shape. Priya called with updates when she had them. Dad had moved money among several accounts, making it difficult to trace. The club provided its records. Bellweather Events returned a portion of the deposits after Madison canceled the largest parts of her wedding plans.
Mrs. Price also told me the manager who had watched the slap would not return to his job. The club board had changed its instructions to staff for dealing with violence against a guest.
I was glad. I still had no wish to eat there again.
One evening, Mother came to my apartment carrying a pot of soup. She asked if she could come in.
We ate at my table without speaking much. At the door, she said, “I don’t expect you to trust me because I testified.”
“I don’t,” I said.
She nodded. “Then I’ll keep telling you the truth and let you decide what that means.”
After she left, I found that she had washed the dishes while I was putting away the soup.
It was a small kindness. I let it be small.
The next morning, Priya called earlier than usual.
“The independent trustee found a transfer made after Richard received notice of the court order,” she said. “It appears he tried to move money from an account we hadn’t identified yet.”
“Did he get it out?”
“No. The bank held the transfer.”
I sat down on the edge of my bed.
May you like
“What happens now?”
“Now,” Priya said, “the judge needs to know.”
