Chapter 6: The Lie My Mother Protected
I stared at Daniel.
“What did my mother mean?””
He didn't answer immediately.
Outside the office, the gala continued. Through the closed door came the muffled sound of music and applause, a world of champagne and expensive suits existing just a few feet away from the wreckage of everything I thought I knew.
Daniel picked up the blue notebook.
“Your father died in a car accident,” he said.
“I know that.””
“The official report said his vehicle left the road during heavy rain.””
“Yes.””
“Do you remember what happened the week before?””
I shook my head.
“I was living in Boston then. I came home for the funeral.””
“Your father called me three times during that week.””
I looked at him sharply.
“You never told me.””
“He asked me to meet him. I was out of state negotiating a transaction, and I couldn't get back in time.””
“What did he want?””
“To give me documents related to Westbridge Advisory.””
Daniel opened the notebook to a page near the back.
There was a handwritten entry dated six years earlier.
*Richard called. Says Westbridge is moving money through shell companies. Believes someone inside is using personal guarantees without consent. Wants to meet before Friday.*
I read it twice.
“Personal guarantees?””
“Financial agreements in which someone accepts responsibility for a debt if a company fails to pay.””
I felt sick.
“Was my father investigating fraud?””
“He believed he had discovered something. He wanted to show me the evidence.””
“Did he?””
“No.””
Daniel's voice was quiet.
“He died before we met.””
I gripped the edge of the desk.
“Then why would my mother say you did something to him?””
“I don't know.””
“Did you have anything to do with the accident?””
Daniel looked directly at me.
“No.””
The answer came without hesitation.
I wanted to believe him.
That was the most frightening part.
Even after everything, even after the secrets and the forged signatures, some part of me still recognized the man who had sat beside my father's hospital bed during his final visit to Chicago.
I remembered Daniel holding Dad's hand while the nurses changed his medication. I remembered him bringing coffee to the waiting room and staying until midnight.
At the time, I had thought he was simply being a good son-in-law.
Now I wondered whether he had been trying to understand something Dad had never managed to explain.
“Did the police investigate?”” I asked.
“Yes.””
“Did they find anything suspicious?””
“Nothing conclusive.””
“Then why are you bringing this up now?””
Daniel looked at the notebook.
“Because the company connected to your father's consulting work has reappeared in the Northbridge records. And because your mother believes the notebook contains information that could implicate me.””
He closed it.
“She wouldn't have reacted that way if she thought it was harmless.””
I sank into the chair.
For a long moment, neither of us spoke.
Then I asked the question I had been afraid to ask since the phone call ended.
“Did my father trust you?””
Daniel's expression softened.
“Yes.””
“How do you know?””
“Because the last message he sent me wasn't an accusation. It was a warning.””
He opened a drawer and removed a printed email.
The date was the day before Dad died.
The subject line read: *Keep Lauren Away From Westbridge.*
I read the message.
Daniel,
I've made a mistake by allowing these people too close to my family. If anything happens to me, don't let Lauren sign anything connected to Westbridge or Bellweather. Patricia believes she is protecting our daughter, but she doesn't understand who she's dealing with.
I should have told Lauren the truth years ago. I kept waiting for the right moment, and now I may have run out of time.
Please forgive me for involving you.
Richard.
I read it again.
My father had warned Daniel about my mother.
Not the other way around.
I looked up, my vision blurred.
“Why didn't you show me this after he died?””
Daniel's jaw tightened.
“I tried.””
“What do you mean?””
“I called you. Several times. Your mother answered one of the calls and told me you didn't want to speak to me.””
I stared at him.
“I never received those calls.””
“I know that now.””
“How?””
“Because I found the call logs in the notebook. Your father had written down the number he used to reach you. It was different from the number your mother gave me.””
My hands trembled.
My mother had intercepted Daniel's calls after my father's death.
She had told him I didn't want to speak to him.
And she had told me nothing.
“Why would she do that?””
Daniel's expression was grim.
“Perhaps she was afraid of what your father had discovered. Perhaps she thought she could protect you by keeping you away from the investigation.””
“Or perhaps she was protecting herself.””
He didn't respond.
I stood abruptly.
“I need to leave.””
“Lauren—”
“I need to see her.””
Daniel rose from his chair.
“You shouldn't go alone.””
“I don't care.””
“I do.””
The words stopped me.
For a moment, we were back in our apartment, standing across from each other after an argument. Daniel's voice was always quiet when he was most worried.
But this time, there was no tenderness in his expression that I could claim as my own.
He wasn't asking me to stay because he wanted me back.
He was asking me to stay because he believed I might be walking into danger.
“Let Rebecca arrange a car,” he said.
“And have someone accompany you.””
I looked away.
“I don't want your security team following me.””
“Then take Rebecca.””
I hesitated.
Finally, I nodded.
Daniel picked up his phone.
Before he could call her, the office door opened.
Ethan walked in.
His bow tie was undone, and his face had lost every trace of the confidence he had displayed earlier that evening.
He stopped when he saw me.
“Lauren.””
I turned toward him.
“Did you forge my signature?””
Ethan looked at Daniel.
“Can we speak privately?””
“No,” I said.
“You can answer me here.””
He rubbed a hand over his face.
“This isn't what you think.””
“Then tell me what it is.””
Ethan closed the door behind him.
“I made a mistake.””
“What mistake?””
“I signed a document that I shouldn't have signed.””
“You signed a financial authorization using my name.””
His eyes widened.
“Who told you that?””
I laughed bitterly.
“You're still asking who told me?””
Ethan stepped toward me.
“Lauren, listen. I never intended for your name to be used that way. The authorization was supposed to be temporary.””
“Temporary?””
“It was part of a transaction. I was told the funds would be returned after the acquisition closed.””
“Who told you?””
He hesitated.
I saw the answer in his face before he spoke.
“My mother?””
Ethan looked down.
“Patricia said it was a way to protect the investment.””
I felt as though the air had been knocked out of my lungs.
“You knew my mother?””
“Yes.””
“How long?””
“Before I met you.””
I took a step back.
“How did you meet her?””
“Through a mutual business contact.””
“Westbridge Advisory?””
Ethan's silence confirmed it.
I looked at Daniel.
He stood beside the desk, watching Ethan without moving.
“Why did you date me?”” I asked.
Ethan looked stricken.
“That's not fair.””
“Why did you date me?””
“Because I liked you.””
“Did you know who I was before we met?””
He swallowed.
“Yes.””
The room seemed to shrink.
I gripped the back of the chair.
“Was our relationship part of the plan?””
Ethan opened his mouth, then closed it.
“I didn't plan to fall in love with you.””
“That isn't an answer.””
“I met you because your mother introduced us. She said you were intelligent, well connected, and that you might be able to help me understand Daniel's business.””
I stared at him.
My mother had introduced me to Ethan.
The man I believed I had met by chance at a charity dinner.
The man who had made me feel chosen after years of feeling disappointed in my marriage.
It had all begun with a conversation I hadn't known was happening.
“What did she want from me?””
Ethan looked toward Daniel.
“She believed you still had access to information from the Northbridge agreement. She thought Daniel might have shared things with you that weren't included in the official records.””
“But I knew nothing.””
“I know that now.””
“Now?””
He winced.
“I didn't know what you knew when we first met.””
I felt tears burning behind my eyes.
“So you stayed with me to find out whether I had information.””
“At first, I wanted to know what you remembered. But that changed.””
“When?””
“When I got to know you.””
I shook my head.
“You don't get to call it love because you eventually started enjoying the lie.””
Ethan looked devastated.
For a moment, I thought he might argue.
Instead, he sat down and buried his face in his hands.
“I was desperate,” he whispered.
“I had debts. Westbridge promised me a share of the acquisition if I helped them secure the documents. Patricia said the money would solve everything.””
“And you believed her?””
“I wanted to.””
“Did you know my father was involved?””
Ethan looked up.
“Yes.””
The answer was barely audible.
My knees weakened.
“What did he do?””
“He was supposed to help Westbridge obtain the original ownership agreement. He discovered they were planning to move money through accounts connected to people who had no idea their names were being used.””
“Then he tried to stop them?””
Ethan nodded.
“Your father threatened to report the company. He told Patricia he had copies of the documents.””
“And then he died.””
Ethan's face crumpled.
“I don't know what happened that night.””
“Did you know my mother was with him?””
He went completely still.
I felt my heartbeat in my throat.
“Ethan?””
He looked at Daniel.
Daniel stepped forward.
“Answer her.””
Ethan swallowed.
“Patricia called me the next morning. She said Richard had been in an accident. She told me not to contact the police because the documents had already been taken care of.””
I stared at him.
“What documents?””
“The copies your father had collected.””
“Where are they now?””
“I don't know.””
“You must know something.””
Ethan shook his head.
“She told me she destroyed them.””
I felt the room spin.
My father had died after discovering a financial scheme.
My mother had warned Daniel not to open the notebook.
And Ethan had been recruited to get close to me.
I looked at the man I had planned to marry.
“You used me.””
Ethan stood.
“I never wanted you to get hurt.””
“You let me believe you loved me.””
“I do love you.””
“No.””
My voice cracked.
“You loved what I could give you. You loved the possibility that I might lead you to documents you couldn't get any other way. You loved having a girlfriend who could introduce you to the right people.””
He reached for my hand.
I pulled away.
“Don't touch me.””
He froze.
Daniel moved between us, not aggressively, but with enough certainty that Ethan stopped approaching.
“Your interview with legal counsel is going to happen tonight,” Daniel said.
“You can cooperate, or you can wait for the investigators to decide what happens next.””
Ethan looked at him.
“You can't destroy my career over this.””
“Your career is not my concern right now.””
“I did the work. I built the Northbridge integration. I earned that award.””
Daniel's expression remained cold.
“You were given an opportunity to tell the truth when I asked you about the original agreement. Instead, you tried to hide behind your girlfriend's name.””
Ethan's face reddened.
“You don't understand what it was like. You disappear for months, leave everyone guessing, and expect us to build an empire around your decisions.””
Daniel stared at him.
“I gave you access to a company that trusted you.””
“And you gave me a job.””
“I gave you responsibility. You chose what to do with it.””
Ethan looked at me one last time.
“Lauren, please. I can explain.””
I felt strangely calm.
“Explain what?””
He lowered his voice.
“Your mother wasn't the one who arranged the original transfer.””
Daniel's eyes sharpened.
“Who was?””
Ethan hesitated.
Then he said a name I had never expected to hear.
“Martin Hale.””
The CFO.
The man who had welcomed Daniel to the stage.
The man who had congratulated Ethan on his award.
The man who had delivered the documents that started this nightmare.
Daniel reached for his phone.
But before he could make the call, Rebecca burst through the door.
“Daniel, we have a problem.””
He turned.
“What happened?””
“The security team reviewed the footage from the executive corridor.””
“And?””
Rebecca looked at me.
“Someone entered your private office twenty minutes ago.””
Daniel's expression hardened.
“Who?””
Rebecca held up her tablet.
The screen showed a woman leaving the office with a slim black folder tucked beneath her arm.
My mother.
“She took the original Northbridge agreement,” Rebecca said.
I stared at the photograph.
Then I noticed something in my mother's other hand.
A small silver key.
The same kind of key that had once opened the safe in our apartment.
May you like
The safe where Daniel had kept the documents I had refused to read.
And the documents my father had died trying to protect.
