Chapter 4: The Brother Who Was Supposed to Be Dead
Dad read the name three times.
Daniel Carter.
The name sat beneath the yellow highlighter like a confession Simone had forgotten to destroy.
I stood beside the staircase, clutching the railing, while Dad turned the bank statement over as if the back might explain something the front could not.
"Chloe, sweetheart, go upstairs for me.""
I shook my head.
"Is he dangerous?""
Dad looked at me.
"I don't know.""
"Is that why Simone said he was dead?""
He didn't answer immediately.
Then he put the statement down and crouched in front of me.
"I need you to do something for me. Go to your room, lock the door if that makes you feel safer, and call me if you hear anything that frightens you.""
"Are you going to make her leave?""
"I'm going to find out the truth.""
I wanted to ask whether the truth would make Simone angry enough to hurt me. But Dad was already standing, and I could hear Simone moving around in the kitchen.
I went upstairs.
I didn't lock the door.
I wanted to hear what happened.
A few minutes later, Dad called Simone into his office. She came reluctantly, carrying her handbag and keeping her phone pressed against her palm.
"Sit down," Dad said.
"I'd rather stand.""
"Fine. Who is Daniel Carter?""
Simone stared at him.
"My brother.""
"You told me he died.""
"I told you he was no longer part of my life.""
"No, Simone. You told me he died in a car accident.""
She swallowed.
Dad pulled another statement from the folder.
"There's a transfer to him every Friday. Some are small. Some are over a thousand dollars. The latest one is scheduled for Monday.""
Simone sat down.
For the first time, she looked older than she was. The careful makeup, the polished hair, the expensive clothes—all of it seemed like a costume that had suddenly become too heavy to wear.
"Daniel got into trouble," she said.
"What kind of trouble?""
"The kind you wouldn't understand.""
"Try me.""
She rubbed her forehead.
"He started gambling when we were young. At first, it was sports bets with his friends. Then online poker.
Then casinos. He borrowed money, lost it, and borrowed more.""
Dad leaned against his desk.
"How much does he owe?""
"I don't know anymore.""
"How long have you been paying his debts?""
Simone stared at the carpet.
"Since before we got married.""
Dad's expression hardened.
"You were sending him money before our wedding?""
"He was going to get hurt if I didn't.""
"By whom?""
She shook her head.
"I can't tell you that.""
"Then tell me why you lied about him being dead.""
"Because I knew you'd never marry me if you knew what my family was like.""
Dad stared at her.
"That's your explanation?""
"No!"" Simone's voice cracked.
"You don't understand what it's like to have someone call you in the middle of the night, begging you to save his life. Daniel is my only brother. We grew up together.
Our parents are gone. I'm all he has.""
Dad looked down at the statements.
"And Chloe?""
Simone's head snapped up.
"What?""
"You took money from my daughter. Her birthday money. Her allowance.
Money I gave her for school supplies. Did Daniel need that, too?""
Her eyes filled with tears.
"I was going to replace it.""
"When?""
"I don't know!""
The words exploded out of her.
Then she covered her mouth, as if she couldn't believe she'd said them.
Dad's voice became quieter.
"How much did you take from Chloe?""
Simone didn't answer.
"How much?""
"I don't know exactly.""
Dad turned toward the desk and picked up my notebook.
"She does.""
He opened it to the first page and read aloud.
"Twelve dollars from her piggy bank. Five dollars from me. Fifty dollars from her birthday. Twenty dollars for school supplies.""
He looked up.
"That's eighty-seven dollars and seventy-five cents, Simone. To an adult, it might not sound like much. To a nine-year-old, it's everything she has.""
Simone began to cry.
"I never meant to hurt her.""
Dad placed the notebook on his desk.
"But you did.""
Silence settled over the office.
I heard Simone whisper something, but I couldn't make out the words.
Then Dad said, "I want you to call Daniel.""
She shook her head violently.
"No.""
"You're going to call him, put him on speaker, and explain that the transfers are stopping.""
"You can't do that!""
"I can stop money from leaving our household.""
"You don't understand! If I stop paying him, he'll come here!""
Dad went completely still.
"Has Daniel been to this house?""
Simone pressed both hands against her face.
"No.""
"Has he threatened to come here?""
She said nothing.
Dad walked around the desk.
"Simone, look at me.""
She lowered her hands.
"Has your brother threatened you?""
Her lips trembled.
"He said if I stopped helping him, he'd tell you everything.""
"Everything about what?""
She shook her head again.
Dad's patience finally broke.
"Enough! You can't keep telling me that I don't understand while refusing to explain anything.""
Simone rose so abruptly that her chair scraped across the floor.
"Fine! You want the truth? Daniel isn't just gambling.
He has a gambling addiction, and he's been in debt for years. He has borrowed money from people who don't accept excuses. I thought I could pay them off before you ever found out.""
"And when that didn't work?""
"I kept paying.""
"With our money.""
"Yes!""
The admission echoed through the room.
I pressed my hand against my mouth.
Dad looked as though someone had struck him.
"How much?""
Simone stared at him.
"I don't know.""
"How much, Simone?""
"Nearly forty thousand dollars.""
Dad slowly sat down.
Forty thousand dollars.
I didn't understand exactly how much that was, but I knew it was enough to buy a house, or a car, or thousands of birthday presents.
It was enough to fill every piggy bank in the world.
And Simone had been sending it to a man she claimed was dead.
Dad rubbed his face.
"Did you use the money from our joint account?""
"Some of it.""
"Did you take out loans?""
She hesitated.
That hesitation told him everything.
"How many?""
"Two.""
Dad stared at her.
"Two what?""
"Personal loans.""
"Under whose name?""
"Mine.""
"How much?""
"About eighteen thousand.""
He closed his eyes.
For a moment, neither of them spoke.
Then Simone whispered, "I was going to fix everything.""
Dad opened his eyes.
"You don't fix a problem by stealing from a child.""
She looked toward the staircase.
"Chloe doesn't understand.""
"She's nine, Simone. She understands that the money people give her disappears, and she understands that she's afraid of you.""
Simone flinched.
"I never wanted her to be afraid of me.""
"Then why did you threaten her?""
She looked down.
Dad picked up his phone and called the bank.
He asked them to stop the scheduled transfer, review the linked transactions, and explain what steps were available to protect the remaining household funds.
When he finished, he called a lawyer.
Simone watched him with growing panic.
"You're calling a lawyer?""
"Yes.""
"You can't be serious.""
"I am.""
"After everything I've done for you?""
Dad looked at her for a long time.
"What have you done for me, Simone? Tell me one thing you've done that justifies making my daughter afraid to speak in her own home.""
She opened her mouth.
Nothing came out.
Dad stood.
"Until we understand the full extent of this, you will not have access to the household accounts. And you will not be alone with Chloe.""
Simone's face twisted.
"You're throwing me away because of a few mistakes?""
"No. I'm protecting my daughter because of a pattern of choices you've made.""
She grabbed her handbag.
"You'll regret this.""
Dad didn't move.
"Perhaps. But I won't regret protecting Chloe.""
Simone stormed out of the office.
Her heels struck the hallway floor, then the stairs.
A bedroom door slammed.
I remained frozen on the landing until Dad came out.
When he saw me, his expression softened immediately.
"Hey, sweetheart.""
I tried to speak.
"Is Simone going to prison?""
Dad knelt beside me.
"I don't know what the consequences will be. That's something the adults will have to work out.""
"Is Daniel coming here?""
His face tightened.
"Did you hear us talking about him?""
I nodded.
Dad took my hands.
"I won't let you handle this. If Daniel contacts us or comes to the house, we'll deal with it safely and get help if we need it.""
"Promise?""
"I promise I'll do everything I can to keep you safe.""
He hugged me.
I buried my face in his shirt and listened to his heartbeat.
For the first time, I didn't feel as though I had to make myself small to keep the family together.
Dad was doing that part himself.
That evening, he made grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup. We ate at the kitchen table, and he let me choose a movie.
Simone didn't come downstairs.
Halfway through the movie, my phone buzzed.
It was a message from an unknown number.
Tell your dad to stop digging into my business.
I stared at the screen.
Another message appeared.
Your stepmother has done everything for you people. You have no idea what she sacrificed.
My hands began to shake.
I carried the phone to Dad.
He read the messages without speaking.
Then he took a screenshot and saved it.
"Did you give anyone your number, sweetheart?""
"No.""
He looked at the unknown number again.
"Okay. You did the right thing by showing me.""
"Is it Daniel?""
"I don't know. We won't assume, but we won't ignore it either.""
He blocked the number and contacted the appropriate support service for advice about the unwanted messages.
Then he took me upstairs, checked the locks, and sat beside my bed until I fell asleep.
I thought the worst was over.
I thought Simone's secret had finally come into the light.
But at 6:17 the next morning, Dad's phone rang.
I woke to the sound of his voice in the hallway.
"No," he said sharply.
"That transfer was canceled.""
He listened.
Then his voice dropped.
"How much did you say?""
A long silence followed.
I crept toward the doorway.
Dad was standing beside the window, staring at the garden.
When he turned, his face was pale.
The bank had discovered another payment request.
It hadn't come from the account Simone had opened in her own name.
It had come from a second account linked to an address we had never seen.
And the transfer wasn't for a few hundred dollars.
It was for fifteen thousand.
May you like
Dad looked toward the closed bedroom door at the end of the hallway.
Then he whispered, "What else have you done, Simone?""
