Chapter 5 - THE ACCOUNT WITH ETHAN'S NAME
The room seemed to shrink.
I grabbed Ethan's hand.
Hale looked uncomfortable for the first time.
Daniel stepped toward him.
“Richard.”
Hale shook his head.
“You told me she wouldn't know.”
“I handled it.”
“You clearly didn't.”
I turned to Daniel.
“What account has our son's name on it?”
“Nothing.”
Hale laughed quietly.
“Don't insult her.”
Daniel glared at him.
Hale sighed.
“The account was created when Ethan was born.”
“Why?”
“To hold shares.”
“In what?”
“Northstar.”
I felt sick.
“How many?”
Hale looked at Daniel.
Daniel said nothing.
Hale finally answered.
“Twenty-two percent.”
Robert stepped forward.
“That makes no sense.”
“It does if the shares were placed into a trust.”
“What trust?”
Hale looked at me.
“A family trust.”
I shook my head.
“We don't have one.”
“You did.”
“When?”
“Six years ago.”
The date.
Ethan's birthday.
Everything suddenly connected.
The forged signature.
The money.
The property.
The blue folder.
But one question remained.
“Why would Daniel put Northstar shares in Ethan's name?”
Hale's expression softened.
“Because your husband wasn't trying to steal from you.”
I stared at him.
“What?”
“He was trying to protect the shares.”
Daniel closed his eyes.
Hale continued.
“Northstar was failing.”
“Then why move money into it?”
“To prevent a hostile takeover.”
“Using foundation money?”
Hale shook his head.
“That part wasn't supposed to happen.”
I looked at Daniel.
“You used charity money because you were trying to save a company?”
He nodded slowly.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because Northstar wasn't just a company.”
He looked at Ethan.
“It funded the pediatric treatment center your foundation was built around.”
I remembered the children.
The families.
The medical programs.
The promises we had made.
Daniel's motive suddenly looked different.
Not innocent.
But not what I had believed.
He had made terrible choices.
He had lied.
He had forged my signature.
He had cheated.
But the money hadn't gone into his pocket.
Not all of it.
“Where did the rest go?”
Daniel looked at Vanessa.
She stepped forward.
“I know.”
She reached into her purse.
A small black notebook.
“I kept records.”
Daniel stared at her.
“Why?”
“Because you promised me ten million dollars and then stopped answering my calls.”
She handed it to me.
Inside were dates.
Amounts.
Account numbers.
And initials.
One set appeared repeatedly.
R.H.
Richard Hale.
I looked up.
Hale's face was expressionless.
“What's this?”
Vanessa answered.
“Payments.”
“For what?”
“Silence.”
I looked at Hale.
He didn't deny it.
Daniel whispered, “Vanessa, you don't understand.”
She looked at him.
“I understand perfectly.”
Then she turned to me.
“I thought he was leaving you.”
“Why?”
“Because he told me you were only staying married for the foundation.”
I stared at Daniel.
He lowered his head.
That was another lie.
A different kind.
He hadn't simply manipulated Vanessa.
He had convinced her that our marriage was already dead.
I looked at Ethan.
He was watching us.
Too much of the adult world had already entered his childhood.
I crouched.
“Buddy, you and I are going home.”
“Are we?”
“Yes.”
“Is Dad coming?”
I looked at Daniel.
He couldn't meet my eyes.
“I don't know.”
Ethan's face fell.
Daniel finally crouched beside him.
“Ethan.”
Our son looked at him.
“Did you lie to Mom?”
Daniel swallowed.
“Yes.”
“About the lady?”
“Yes.”
“About the blue folder?”
“Yes.”
“About the house?”
Daniel closed his eyes.
“Yes.”
Ethan looked at me.
“Are we still a family?”
I couldn't answer immediately.
Daniel did.
“Yes.”
Ethan looked at him.
“Then why did you make Mom sad?”
Daniel's face crumpled.
“I don't know how to fix it.”
Ethan thought for a moment.
“Then start by saying sorry.”
Daniel looked at me.
“I'm sorry.”
I didn't forgive him.
Not yet.
But I heard the words.
Then Hale suddenly grabbed the notebook.
Vanessa screamed.
Robert lunged.
Hale tore out several pages and ran.
Security moved toward him.
But before they could stop him, he threw the remaining notebook onto the floor.
One page landed face-up.
A list of names.
At the bottom was mine.
And beside my name was a handwritten note:
PRIMARY BENEFICIARY — DO NOT DISCLOSE UNTIL AGE 40.
I stared.
“Age forty?”
Daniel went pale.
May you like
He whispered:
“That wasn't supposed to be found for another eleven years.”
