Chapter 3 - What Marcus Had Been Searching For
I stared at my son.
He couldn't meet my eyes.
“Why were you asking about my life insurance?”
Marcus rubbed the back of his neck.
“Because I was scared.”
“Of what?”
“Losing the house.”
I shook my head slowly.
“That's not an answer.”
He finally looked at me.
“Diana's business was drowning.”
There it was.
The explanation people always gave before confessing something worse.
I sat at the kitchen table.
“Go on.”
“We owed money.”
“How much?”
Marcus hesitated.
“How much?”
“About seventy thousand.”
I closed my eyes.
The number wasn't even the worst part.
“You told me the business was doing fine.”
“It was supposed to.”
“You told me the loan was temporary.”
“I thought it would be.”
“You told me you needed twenty-two thousand.”
Marcus stared at the floor.
“That was part of it.”
My voice became quiet.
“What does that mean?”
He didn't answer.
Patricia stepped closer.
“Marcus, tell him everything now.”
Marcus exhaled.
“The business had other debts.”
“How much?”
“More than twenty-two.”
“How much?”
“Forty-eight thousand.”
I felt something inside me crack.
“You used my name to co-sign without telling me the full amount?”
“No.”
Marcus shook his head quickly.
“The other debt wasn't in your name.”
“But you expected me to save you if things went wrong.”
“Yes.”
I stared at him.
At six feet away was the little boy from the photograph.
The boy who used to crawl into our bed after thunderstorms.
The boy Carol called her shadow.
The man sitting across from me looked nothing like him.
Then Marcus said the sentence that changed everything.
“I asked about your insurance because Diana said we'd need a way to survive if you died.”
I didn't speak.
Patricia did.
“Did she say that before or after Robert's stroke?”
“Before.”
“How long before?”
Marcus closed his eyes.
“A month.”
The room went silent.
A month.
Before my stroke.
Before the ICU.
Before the renovation.
Before the cameras.
Diana had already been talking about what would happen if I died.
I looked at Marcus.
“And what did you say?”
“I told her to stop.”
“But you asked about the policy.”
“I was trying to understand what she meant.”
“Did you ever tell her how much it was worth?”
His silence answered.
Patricia walked to the counter.
“Robert, there is something else you should know.”
She opened her laptop.
“The insurance company informed me there was an inquiry about changing beneficiary information.”
My heart pounded.
“Did anyone change it?”
“No.”
“Then who asked?”
Patricia turned the screen toward me.
The request had originated from a third-party insurance portal.
No change had been authorized.
But someone had tried.
The request included personal information.
My date of birth.
Policy number.
Address.
Phone number.
And part of my Social Security information.
Marcus looked horrified.
“I didn't do that.”
“I believe you,” Patricia said.
Diana's footsteps sounded in the hallway.
She entered the kitchen.
“What are you talking about?”
Marcus stood.
“Did you try to change Dad's life insurance beneficiary?”
Diana froze.
“What?”
“Answer me.”
She looked at me.
Then Patricia.
Then Marcus.
“I don't know what you're talking about.”
Patricia closed the laptop.
“Then this should be easy.”
She pulled out her phone.
“I have the insurer's records.”
Diana's face changed.
“Patricia, you're making this into something it isn't.”
“I haven't said what it is.”
Marcus looked at Diana.
“Did you?”
“No.”
“Did you talk to anyone about it?”
She hesitated.
“Everyone talks.”
“Did you?”
Diana crossed her arms.
“Yes.”
“To whom?”
“A financial planner.”
“For what?”
“Planning.”
Marcus laughed once.
There was no humor in it.
“Planning for Dad's death?”
Diana's eyes flashed.
“You don't understand the pressure I'm under.”
“I'm not asking about pressure.”
Marcus stepped closer.
“I'm asking what you did.”
Diana looked at me.
“You've always treated me like an outsider.”
I stared back.
“That doesn't answer him.”
“You never trusted me.”
“You gave me reasons not to.”
The words hung between us.
Diana's jaw tightened.
Then she said something I didn't expect.
“Ask Marcus where the forty-eight thousand came from.”
Marcus turned white.
“What?”
I looked at him.
“You said the business had forty-eight thousand in other debt.”
Marcus stared at Diana.
“Where did you get that money?”
She didn't answer.
Patricia noticed it too.
“Diana?”
Still nothing.
Marcus stepped backward.
“No.”
Diana whispered, “Marcus…”
“No.”
He shook his head.
“You told me those accounts were yours.”
I looked from one to the other.
“What accounts?”
Marcus sat down.
“The money she used to keep the business alive.”
Patricia's expression hardened.
“What money?”
Marcus's voice dropped.
“My father's.”
The room seemed to tilt.
I gripped the edge of the table.
“You said you weren't using my money.”
Marcus covered his face.
“I didn't know.”
“Didn't know what?”
“She told me the money was from a family account.”
“What family account?”
“Her mother’s.”
Diana suddenly shouted, “Stop!”
Everyone went silent.
She stood trembling.
“You don't know anything.”
Marcus looked up.
“I know exactly what you told me.”
Diana stared at him.
And then she said something that made my blood run cold.
“I never took his money.”
Patricia narrowed her eyes.
“Then whose money was it?”
Diana's voice broke.
“Carol's.”
My heart stopped.
“What did you say?”
Diana looked at me.
“Your wife left something behind.”
Marcus whispered, “Diana, don't.”
But it was too late.
Patricia stood.
“Explain.”
Diana's eyes filled with tears.
“There was an account.”
“What account?”
May you like
She looked at me.
“An account Robert doesn't know exists.”
