Chapter 5: The Price of Keeping a Secret
Dad canceled the second transfer before breakfast.
He spent the morning on the phone with the bank, the lawyer, and a financial investigator recommended by Aunt Melissa.
I sat at the kitchen table with a bowl of cereal, listening to the printer spit out page after page.
Every time Dad walked past me, he touched my shoulder.
Every time Simone's bedroom door opened, my stomach tightened.
She didn't come downstairs until nearly ten.
She wore sunglasses despite the cloudy weather and carried a suitcase.
Dad was standing near the front door when she appeared.
"Where are you going?""
"To my friend's house.""
"Which friend?""
She stopped on the stairs.
"Since when do I need permission to leave?""
"You don't. But I need to know whether you're planning to return.""
Her jaw tightened.
"Why? So you can have the locks changed while I'm gone?""
Dad didn't answer.
She descended the remaining steps and set the suitcase beside the door.
"You've made your decision, Derek. I can see that.""
"I've made one decision. Chloe comes first.""
Simone looked at me.
I lowered my eyes.
She let out a bitter laugh.
"Of course she does. She always has.""
Dad stepped between us.
"Don't.""
"Don't what? Tell the truth?""
"Don't put this on her.""
Simone gripped the handle of her suitcase.
"You think you're a hero now because you found some bank statements? You have no idea what I've been dealing with.""
Dad's voice remained steady.
"Then explain it without blaming Chloe.""
She stared at him.
For a moment, I thought she might finally tell us everything.
Instead, she pulled out her phone and began typing.
Dad watched her.
"Who are you contacting?""
"No one you need to worry about.""
"Simone.""
She shoved the phone into her purse.
"I'm leaving. Isn't that what you want?""
"I want the truth. And I want you to stop taking money from our household.""
She opened the front door.
"Maybe you should ask yourself why I felt I had to do it.""
Then she walked out.
The door closed with a soft click.
I stood in the hallway, waiting for Dad to tell me what happened next.
Instead, he picked up the suitcase Simone had left behind.
He carried it into the guest room, closed the door, and returned to me.
"She's staying somewhere else for now," he said.
"You don't have to worry about seeing her unexpectedly.""
"Is she coming back?""
"I don't know, sweetheart.""
I looked at the front door.
"Do you still love her?""
Dad's expression changed.
He sat on the bottom stair and patted the space beside him.
I sat down.
"Love is complicated," he said.
"I cared about Simone. I wanted our marriage to work. But loving someone doesn't mean allowing them to hurt you or the people you care about.""
I thought about that.
"Did Mommy ever hurt you?""
Dad smiled sadly.
"No, sweetheart. Your mother and I had disagreements sometimes, like every couple. But she never made me afraid to tell the truth.""
I leaned against him.
"Then why did you marry Simone?""
He took a long breath.
"After your mother died, I was lonely. I was trying to be a good father while figuring out how to live without the person I had planned to grow old with. Simone seemed to understand what I needed. I thought she would help us build a happy home.""
"Did she?""
"Sometimes. But I ignored things I should have paid attention to.""
He looked at me.
"And I'm sorry that meant you were left feeling alone.""
I wrapped my arms around him.
For once, I didn't feel responsible for making him feel better.
I could simply be his daughter.
Later that afternoon, Aunt Melissa arrived with a grocery bag and a stack of colored construction paper.
She found me sitting at the dining table, drawing a picture of our house.
"What's this?"" she asked.
"Our family.""
She studied the picture.
It showed Dad and me standing beside a big oak tree. There was a little garden near the porch, and a yellow sun in the corner.
"That's lovely," she said.
"Who's the tiny person by the mailbox?""
I shrugged.
"I haven't decided.""
Melissa sat beside me.
"Well, whoever it is, they look like they need a hat.""
I laughed.
It felt strange to laugh with so much uncertainty hanging over us.
While I colored the tree, Melissa and Dad reviewed the bank statements in the office.
Their voices were low at first, then gradually grew louder.
"There's another loan," Melissa said.
Dad sounded exhausted.
"How much?""
"Eleven thousand dollars. It was taken out eight months ago.""
"That's the third loan.""
"Yes.""
I heard a chair scrape.
"Where did this money go?""
Melissa turned a page.
"Some went to Daniel. Some went to a payment service. And there's a transfer to a company called Northstar Recovery.""
Dad was quiet.
Then he said, "What's Northstar Recovery?""
"I'm checking.""
I continued coloring, but my attention had shifted completely.
A few minutes later, Melissa came out of the office.
"Chloe, would you like to help me make cookies?""
I nodded.
We baked chocolate chip cookies, and she let me pour the chocolate chips into the bowl.
She didn't ask about Simone.
She didn't tell me to be brave.
She just stayed beside me while the kitchen filled with the warm smell of butter and sugar.
When Dad came in, he looked more tired than ever.
Melissa placed a cookie on his plate.
"Eat something.""
"I'm not hungry.""
"That's not a suggestion.""
He managed a faint smile and took a bite.
Then he sat down beside me.
"Chloe, I need to ask you about something.""
I put my cookie down.
"Okay.""
"Did Simone ever ask you to give her money directly? Not money she took from your room. Money she asked you to hand over?""
I thought carefully.
"Once.""
Dad leaned forward.
"When?""
"Before Christmas. She said she needed a few dollars for a present for you.""
"Did you give her any?""
I nodded.
"Eight dollars. I had saved it from my allowance.""
Dad closed his eyes.
"Did she give it back?""
"No.""
Melissa looked at him, then at me.
"Did she tell you what the present was?""
I shook my head.
Dad wrote it down.
"Thank you for telling me, sweetheart.""
I hesitated.
"Am I going to have to tell a lot of people?""
"Only if it's necessary. We'll explain everything to you before anything happens.""
He kissed my forehead.
That evening, Dad received a call from the financial investigator.
I was in the living room, arranging my colored pencils, when I heard him say, "You're sure?""
He listened for a long time.
Then he asked, "Can you send me the records?""
After the call, he sat alone at the dining table.
I went to him.
"What did they find?""
He motioned for me to sit.
"The investigator traced several payments to companies that appear to be connected to gambling services.""
I nodded slowly.
"Because Daniel likes gambling?""
"That's one possibility. But the records suggest something else, too.""
He turned his laptop toward me, then quickly angled it away when he realized some of the information wasn't appropriate for me to see.
"Sorry, sweetheart. These are grown-up financial records.""
"What else?""
Dad took a breath.
"Some of the money was sent to a company that appears to collect unpaid debts. The investigator is checking whether those payments were connected to Daniel.""
"Did Simone know?""
"She made the payments, so she almost certainly knew where at least some of the money was going.""
I stared at my hands.
"Is Daniel a bad person?""
Dad thought about it before answering.
"I don't know him well enough to say that. But gambling problems can cause people to make terrible decisions. Whatever his situation, it doesn't give anyone the right to take your money.""
The next morning, the lawyer called Dad.
I was eating toast when Dad suddenly stood and walked into the office.
His voice carried through the half-open door.
"You're telling me she used my signature?""
A pause.
"No, I did not authorize that loan.""
Another pause.
"Send me the documents immediately.""
I stopped chewing.
A few minutes later, Dad came into the kitchen holding a printed page.
He looked at me, then sat down.
"Chloe, there's something I need to explain.""
I put down my toast.
"Did I do something wrong?""
"No. Nothing.""
He slid the page toward himself.
"One of the loans was taken out using household financial information. The bank is checking whether documents were altered or signed without proper authorization.""
"Does that mean Simone stole from you, too?""
Dad rubbed his forehead.
"It means we need to establish exactly what happened.""
He didn't look angry anymore.
He looked wounded.
That afternoon, Simone called.
Dad put the phone on speaker only after telling her the conversation would be recorded in accordance with the advice he had received.
"Why are you doing this to me?"" she demanded.
Dad remained calm.
"I'm trying to understand the money.""
"You've frozen the accounts. I can't pay anything.""
"What can't you pay?""
She hesitated.
"Daniel's expenses.""
Dad's expression hardened.
"Why are you responsible for Daniel's expenses?""
"Because he's my brother!""
"That doesn't answer the question.""
Simone began crying.
"He's in trouble, Derek. Serious trouble. He owes money to people who won't leave him alone.
They keep calling. They show up at places where he works. I thought I could keep him safe.""
"By taking money from Chloe?""
"I never wanted to take her money!""
"But you did.""
"I was going to replace it!""
Dad's voice rose.
"When? After you paid off forty thousand dollars? After you took out another loan? After you put our entire household at risk?""
Simone fell silent.
Then she whispered, "I didn't have a choice.""
Dad stared at the phone.
"You always had a choice. You could have told me the truth.""
"You would have left me.""
"Maybe I would have. But I would have known what I was agreeing to.""
Her breathing became uneven.
Then she said something that made Dad sit completely still.
"Daniel told me he'd stop if I gave him enough money.""
Dad closed his eyes.
"How much is enough?""
"I don't know.""
"Simone, how much does he owe?""
She began to cry harder.
"At least eighty thousand dollars.""
The room seemed to shrink around us.
Dad looked at the statements scattered across the table.
Forty thousand in transfers.
Nearly forty thousand in loans.
And still Daniel was demanding more.
"Has he threatened you?"" Dad asked.
Simone didn't answer.
"Has he threatened Chloe?""
"No!"" she cried.
"He wouldn't hurt a child.""
"Then why did he contact her phone?""
Simone went silent.
Dad's face changed.
"What do you mean, he wouldn't hurt her?""
"I didn't know he had her number.""
Dad ended the call after telling Simone that all further financial discussions would go through the lawyer.
Then he contacted the appropriate authorities about the threatening messages and the possibility that Daniel was involved.
He didn't tell me every detail.
He didn't need to.
I could see that my father had finally understood something important.
Simone hadn't simply been hiding a gambling habit.
She had been trying to save her brother from the consequences of his choices, and every time he demanded more, she had taken something else from us.
Our savings.
Our trust.
My birthday money.
The safety of our home.
That evening, Dad helped me move my piggy bank to a shelf in his office.
It was empty, but I wanted to keep it.
He set it beside a framed photograph of Mom.
"You can start saving again whenever you're ready," he told me.
I traced the painted pink flowers around the piggy bank's base.
"What if I never want to save money again?""
"Then you don't have to think about it for a while.""
I looked at him.
"Will you still give me an allowance?""
He smiled faintly.
"Yes.""
"Even if Simone says I don't deserve it?""
"Especially then, I suppose.""
I laughed, and he pulled me into a hug.
For the first time, I believed that the missing money might be returned and that I might one day stop checking my drawers every night.
But on Monday morning, the lawyer called with a new discovery.
The second account had received money from a source neither Dad nor Simone had mentioned.
May you like
And the name attached to that source was not Daniel Carter.
It was my mother's.
