Chapter 5
Marcus read the email twice.
Then he looked at his wife.
“Who is Derek Whitmore?”
Vanessa pressed her lips together.
“Someone I know.”
“Someone you know well enough to use my mother's property to settle your debt?”
“I never sold anything!”
“That isn't an answer!”
His voice echoed across the ballroom.
Vanessa flinched.
I had rarely seen my son lose control of his emotions. He was usually patient, even when people disappointed him.
Tonight, patience was slipping away.
Daniel intervened.
“Marcus, we should establish the facts before making assumptions.”
He turned to Patricia.
“Do you know the nature of this debt?”
“Not the full amount. I only saw references to it in the correspondence.”
Vanessa snatched her handbag from the table.
“This conversation is over.”
She started toward the doors.
Marcus followed her.
“Not until you tell me whether we're in financial trouble.”
She stopped.
The question seemed to frighten her more than anything else.
“What are you talking about?”
“Are we in debt, Vanessa?”
She stared at him.
“No.”
He waited.
She looked away.
“Not exactly.”
Marcus let out a bitter laugh.
“What does that mean?”
“It means I made a few investments.”
“With whose money?”
“Mine!”
“Then why is my mother's property mentioned in your emails?”
Vanessa said nothing.
I watched her fingers tighten around her handbag.
Finally, she whispered, “I borrowed money.”
Marcus looked devastated.
“How much?”
She shook her head.
“Vanessa.”
“Two hundred thousand dollars.”
He staggered backward.
“What?”
“I was going to pay it back!”
“Where did you get two hundred thousand dollars?”
She began speaking rapidly.
A friend had introduced her to an investment opportunity. The returns were supposed to be extraordinary. She had invested her savings and borrowed additional money because she believed she could double everything within months.
At first, she made small profits.
Then the payments stopped.
She had borrowed more to cover the missing returns, convinced the investment would recover.
It hadn't.
The debt had grown until she could no longer manage it.
Marcus rubbed both hands over his face.
“You hid this from me.”
“I was protecting you!”
“You lied to me!”
“I thought I could fix everything before you found out.”
“And then you decided to use my mother's property?”
Vanessa's tears spilled over.
“I didn't know what else to do!”
I felt anger rising inside me, but beneath it was a deeper sadness.
She had been willing to risk my home, my financial security, and my son's trust rather than admit she had made a terrible mistake.
“Why didn't you ask for help?” I asked.
She looked at me bitterly.
“Because you would have used it against me.”
“I would have helped you find a legitimate financial adviser. I would have helped you understand your options. I would not have handed you control of my property.”
“You don't know that!”
“No,” I replied. “I know I would never have agreed to a lie.”
Daniel asked Patricia to clarify the records.
She explained that someone had explored transferring the lake house into a trust and then borrowing against it. No completed transfer had been confirmed, and the investigators would need to determine whether any further steps had occurred.
Marcus looked horrified.
“My mother could have lost her home.”
“Not if everything had gone according to plan,” Vanessa muttered.
Everyone stared at her.
She realized what she had said.
Marcus stepped toward her.
“Everything according to whose plan?”
Vanessa's shoulders collapsed.
“I thought I could repay the debt before anyone noticed.”
“And the cake?” I asked.
She looked at me.
“What?”
“Why did you destroy my birthday cake?”
She gave a bitter laugh.
“Because you announced at dinner that you were giving Marcus the lake house someday.”
I stared at her.
I had mentioned that I was considering leaving the property to Marcus, with the intention that it remain in the family.
I had not promised to transfer it immediately.
“You were angry because I hadn't given you what you wanted.”
“I was angry because you kept dangling wealth in front of us!”
“I never dangled anything. I told you what I was considering for my estate.”
“You made me feel like a beggar!”
“So you decided to humiliate me?”
She looked down.
“I wanted you to feel small for once.”
The honesty of her answer hurt more than another lie would have.
Marcus turned away from her.
For several seconds, he said nothing.
Then he removed his wedding ring and held it in his palm.
“I'm going to stay somewhere else tonight.”
Vanessa stared at him.
“You can't leave me!”
“I can't keep pretending I know who you are.”
She reached for his arm.
He stepped away.
“Please,” she whispered. “We can fix this.”
“Maybe we can fix the financial damage. Maybe we can even understand why you did it. But I don't know how to trust you right now.”
He walked toward me.
“Mom, I'm sorry.”
I took his hand.
“You have nothing to apologize for, sweetheart.”
But before we could leave, Daniel's phone rang.
He listened for several seconds, then looked at Patricia.
“Are you certain?”
Patricia nodded.
Daniel ended the call.
“The bank has confirmed another suspicious transfer.”
Marcus looked up.
“From Mom's accounts?”
“No,” Daniel answered. “From an account connected to Vanessa.”
He turned toward her.
“The recipient is Derek Whitmore.”
May you like
Vanessa's face became completely blank.
And Marcus whispered, “How much money have you actually lost?”
