Chapter 6 - Thomas Carter's Last Warning
Daniel moved the family into his study.
The party outside had effectively ended.
Guests departed in whispers.
Some relatives stayed near the driveway, pretending not to listen.
Lily sat beside Brianna on the sofa.
It was the first time the cousins had sat together without Margaret positioning them against each other.
Margaret refused to sit.
Denise paced.
Rebecca placed the black file on the desk.
Daniel stood opposite her.
“Start from the beginning.”
Rebecca nodded.
“Eight years before Thomas died, he discovered money missing from an investment account.”
Margaret interrupted.
“That was resolved.”
Rebecca looked at her.
“I wasn’t speaking to you.”
Margaret’s eyes widened.
Rebecca continued.
“The missing amount was seventy-two thousand dollars.”
Daniel stared at his mother.
“What did you use it for?”
Margaret folded her arms.
“Family expenses.”
Rebecca shook her head.
“A down payment.”
Denise stopped walking.
“For what?”
Rebecca opened a document.
“A condominium.”
Daniel looked confused.
“We never owned a condominium.”
Rebecca turned the page around.
The owner listed was Denise Carter.
Everyone looked at her.
Denise stared.
“No.”
Margaret said quickly, “Your father wanted her secure.”
Rebecca’s voice sharpened.
“Thomas did not know.”
Denise sat down.
“Mom told me Dad bought it for me.”
Silence followed.
Daniel looked at his sister.
“You believed Dad gave you the condo?”
Denise nodded slowly.
“I was twenty-seven. My marriage had just ended.”
She looked toward Margaret.
“You said Dad didn’t want me to know because he was embarrassed I needed help.”
Margaret waved a hand.
“He would have agreed.”
“That’s not the same thing.”
Rebecca removed another page.
“When Thomas discovered the withdrawal, Margaret returned part of the money. He considered divorce.”
Margaret laughed bitterly.
“He considered everything when he was angry.”
“He also changed his estate.”
Daniel went still.
“What?”
Rebecca slid a document across the desk.
Thomas had moved significant assets into protected structures.
Margaret’s inheritance had been limited to the house she occupied and a controlled income account.
The rest was divided among trusts.
Some Daniel knew.
Others he did not.
“He never told me,” Daniel said.
“He believed secrecy protected the beneficiaries.”
“From Mom.”
Rebecca nodded.
Margaret’s face twisted.
“Thomas was a vindictive old man.”
Lily finally spoke.
“Grandpa loved you.”
Margaret looked at her.
“You were a child. You knew nothing.”
Lily flinched.
Daniel immediately moved.
But Brianna spoke first.
“Don’t talk to her like that.”
Everyone turned.
Margaret looked stunned.
Brianna stood.
“You stole from her.”
“I gave you a car.”
“You gave me her money.”
Margaret’s lips tightened.
“You should be grateful.”
Brianna’s voice shook.
“I don’t want it.”
Denise whispered, “Brianna…”
“I don’t.”
She picked up the Jeep key from the desk and placed it beside the contract.
“Take it back.”
Margaret looked at her granddaughter as though she had been slapped.
Rebecca turned toward Daniel.
“The Jeep is not the most serious issue.”
Daniel’s stomach tightened.
“What is?”
Rebecca opened Thomas’s sealed letter.
The first sentence read:
Daniel,
If you are reading this, your mother has probably done exactly what I feared.
Daniel swallowed.
Rebecca continued reading.
There is another account.
Margaret knows about it.
You do not.
May you like
Daniel looked toward his mother.
For the first time, Margaret appeared truly terrified.
