Chapter 20 - THE WOMAN IN THE CUT PHOTOGRAPHPeter knew immediately.
“Rebecca.”
Daniel stared.
“Emily’s therapist?”
“No.”
Peter shook his head.
“Different Rebecca.”
The woman beside Thomas was Rebecca Shaw.
An attorney.
Family-law specialist.
Thomas had consulted her about divorcing Margaret.
She had died six years earlier.
But her law practice still existed.
Nathan contacted the firm.
Old files had been archived.
Thomas Carter’s file remained.
It contained meeting notes.
Thomas had described decades of financial control.
Margaret intercepting mail.
Margaret threatening to destroy his relationship with Daniel.
Margaret telling relatives Thomas was mentally declining.
Margaret opening credit accounts in his name.
But one note mattered more than the others.
CLIENT REPORTS SPOUSE HAS ACCESSED SON’S SOCIAL SECURITY INFORMATION AND DISCUSSED USING SON’S FUTURE ASSET ELIGIBILITY TO CONSOLIDATE FAMILY PROPERTY.
Daniel read it twice.
“She was planning around me even then.”
“Yes,” Nathan said.
Before Emily.
Before Sophie.
Before the stolen education trust.
Margaret had spent years treating her son’s future as family property.
The release hearing arrived on a gray Thursday morning.
Margaret entered remotely from the correctional facility.
Her hair was shorter.
Her face older.
Her voice unchanged.
Calm.
Measured.
Certain.
She spoke about rehabilitation.
Accountability.
Family reconciliation.
Then her attorney said Daniel supported rebuilding the relationship.
Daniel’s head lifted.
“No.”
The hearing officer looked at him.
“Mr. Carter?”
“I never said that.”
Margaret’s attorney shuffled papers.
“We understood—”
“You understood wrong.”
Margaret stared through the video screen.
Daniel felt the old instinct.
Correct yourself.
Soften.
Protect her embarrassment.
Instead he continued.
“I do not support release based on family reunification. My mother and I do not have a relationship.”
Margaret’s expression tightened.
The prosecutor then disclosed the newly reopened financial investigation.
The hearing officer postponed the release decision pending review.
Margaret lost control.
Only for one second.
But Daniel saw it.
The jaw.
The eyes.
The sudden flash of contempt.
Then she smiled.
“Daniel.”
The hearing officer warned her not to address him directly.
Margaret ignored the warning.
“Your father wasn’t the victim you think he was.”
Daniel said nothing.
“He was leaving you.”
Still nothing.
“He bought that house for himself.”
Daniel finally spoke.
“Maybe.”
Margaret blinked.
“He was going to abandon you.”
“Maybe.”
Her confidence faltered.
Daniel leaned toward the microphone.
“But whatever Dad did doesn’t make what you did disappear.”
Silence.
Margaret stared.
Daniel continued.
“You keep offering me someone else to blame.”
The hearing officer interrupted.
“Mr. Carter—”
Daniel stopped.
The session ended ten minutes later.
Outside, Emily found him sitting on a courthouse bench.
“How are you?”
Daniel considered.
“Sad.”
Emily sat beside him.
“About her?”
“About how long I thought winning an argument with her would make me free.”
Emily understood.
“What changed?”
Daniel looked at her.
“I stopped arguing.”
His phone vibrated.
Nathan.
Daniel answered.
Nathan spoke quickly.
“We have another problem.”
“What?”
“Someone approached Sophie’s school this morning.”
Daniel stood instantly.
May you like
“Who?”
“A woman carrying a birthday present.”
