Chapter 9
My mother.
On the back, in my father’s handwriting, were seven words:
She knows what I did to her.
I turned the photograph over again.
On the front, my mother was holding a folder against her chest.
The folder bore the same name as the company that now held my home.
Keaton Family Holdings.
And beneath the photograph, tucked into the envelope, was a recent note from Corinne.
I did not leave because of the affair alone.
I left because I discovered where the money came from.
PART 3: The Envelope Corinne Left Behind Held a Truth Grant Wasn’t Ready to Read 029
The words stayed with me through the night.
I did not leave because of the affair alone.
I left because I discovered where the money came from.
I read the sentence until the ink seemed to blur.
Then I placed the note beside the trust agreement and called Tessa.
She answered before the second ring.
“Grant?”
Her voice sounded strained. Not tearful. Not angry.
Afraid.
“What do you know about the trust?”
There was a pause.
“I knew you would ask me that.”
“Then answer.”
“I don’t know everything.”
“Tell me what you know.”
“I found something in your father’s old office.”
I stood beside the desk, staring at the papers Corinne had left behind.
“When?”
“Two weeks ago.”
“Two weeks ago, you found something, and you didn’t tell me?”
“I tried to.”
“You sent Corinne a photograph instead.”
“I sent her the photograph because I was trying to make you choose.”
The words were quiet.
They hurt more because they were true.
“You had no right to involve her.”
“I know.”
“You knew she was pregnant.”
“I knew she had Owen. I didn’t know whether you had told her about us.”
I closed my eyes.
There it was again. The difference between what I had said and what I had allowed people to believe.
“You knew about the affair,” I said.
“I knew you were married.”
“That isn’t what I asked.”
“I knew you hadn’t ended it.”
I turned away from the desk.
Outside, the rain had stopped, leaving the street dark and shining beneath the lamps.
“Tessa.”
“I found the files when I went to collect my things from the office,” she said. “Your father’s assistant had left some boxes in the storage room. I recognized the name of the company. I thought they were old business records.”