Chapter 13
The paper trembled between my fingers.
My mother had not left with nothing because she was proud.
She had been told that claiming what belonged to her would put me at risk.
I remembered her small house outside Franklin. The narrow kitchen. The garden she kept alive through every summer. The way she always turned down offers of help from my father, insisting she did not need anything.
I had thought she was proving her strength.
Perhaps she was hiding how much she had lost.
The final paragraph was brief.
I am leaving the remaining documents with Eleanor Voss. She believes the trust can be challenged, but she also believes your father will try to use you as the shield between himself and the truth. If you ever find this letter, do not assume loyalty means silence. It may mean telling someone what they need to know, even when the truth changes the family forever.
There was no signature.
Only the name Mom.
I sat alone in my father’s office while morning light spread across the windows.
For the first time, I understood why Corinne had written that she left because of the money.
Not because she wanted it.
Because she had discovered that the life I offered her had been built on a story my family had concealed.
At nine o’clock, I was in Miriam Holt’s office.
It occupied the second floor of a restored brick building near the river. The reception area was modest, with two armchairs, a bookshelf, and a vase of fresh eucalyptus. Nothing about it resembled the polished offices where my family usually conducted business.
Miriam met me at the door.
She was in her late fifties, with silver hair cut just below her chin and an expression that suggested she had little patience for performances.
“Mr. Keaton.”
“Ms. Holt.”
“Please come in.”
Her office overlooked a row of old warehouses being converted into apartments. She motioned toward a chair.
I remained standing.
“Where is Corinne?”
“She is safe.”
“That isn’t an answer.”
“It is the answer you need first.”
I looked at her.
She did not look away.
“She doesn’t want to see you yet,” Miriam continued. “She asked me to explain the legal situation before you speak directly.”
“I want to know where she and Owen are.”
“You will know when she decides it is appropriate.”
“I am his father.”
“And she has not denied that.”