Chapter 6 - I stared at her.“What?”
Mom's hands were shaking.
Dad turned on her.
“Stop.”
She cried.
“I can't keep doing this.”
I took another step.
“What happened that summer?”
Dad said nothing.
Jessica looked terrified.
Daniel closed the blinds.
“This conversation should not continue in an open office.”
My pulse raced.
“Why?”
Daniel looked at my father.
“Because your daughter deserves the full record.”
Dad grabbed his coat.
“I am leaving.”
I blocked the door.
“No.”
He looked at me.
“Move.”
“Tell me.”
He didn't.
Mom did.
“You disappeared for three days.”
I frowned.
“What?”
“You were seventeen.”
I remembered the summer.
Vaguely.
I'd always been told I'd gone to stay with a friend.
But something about that memory had always felt strange.
Mom continued.
“You were found near the lake.”
My stomach turned.
“What happened?”
“You were unconscious.”
I stared.
“No.”
Dad whispered:
“You fell.”
“Why don't I remember?”
“Head injury.”
Daniel said nothing.
I turned to him.
“Is that true?”
He nodded carefully.
“That's what the official report says.”
“Official?”
I caught the word.
“What does that mean?”
He hesitated.
“It means there were other findings.”
I felt dizzy.
“What findings?”
He opened a cabinet and pulled out another file.
Police report.
Medical report.
Insurance report.
Then a photograph.
A motorcycle.
Crushed against a guardrail.
I stared at it.
“That wasn't my bike.”
“No,” Dad said.
“Whose was it?”
Nobody answered.
Jessica stepped forward.
“Yours was never found.”
I looked at her.
“What?”
“You had a different motorcycle that summer.”
I shook my head.
“I don't remember.”
Mom cried harder.
Dad grabbed the photograph.
“This isn't relevant.”
I snatched it from him.
“What happened?”
He stared at me.
Then said:
“You were in an accident.”
“An accident caused by who?”
Silence.
Then Daniel said:
“There is no evidence establishing that.”
I looked at my father.
“But you know.”
His face gave me the answer.
I took a breath.
“Did you try to kill me?”
Mom gasped.
“No!”
Dad looked horrified.
But Jessica said nothing.
And that silence was louder than anything.
I turned to her.
“You know.”
She shook her head.
“I know something happened.”
“What?”
She looked at Dad.
Then at me.
“Someone tampered with your brakes.”
The room vanished.
I sat down.
“No.”
“Yes.”
“Who?”
Jessica started crying.
“I don't know.”
Dad slammed his fist onto the desk.
“She doesn't know what she's talking about.”
Daniel looked at him.
“Your daughter is remembering more than she should.”
Dad froze.
I looked back at the trust documents.
The room suddenly connected in my head.
My grandfather had known Dad couldn't be trusted.
The trust had safeguards.
The inheritance had been hidden.
And now my daughter had triggered the final clause.
Maybe none of this was about Christmas.
Maybe Christmas was simply the final piece.
I looked at Daniel.
“What exactly happens now?”
He opened another document.
“Control of the trust transfers away from your father.”
“To me?”
“Yes.”
“And the property?”
“Yes.”
“And the money?”
“Yes.”
I swallowed.
“What about the people who took money from it?”
Daniel looked uncomfortable.
“They may be required to repay certain amounts.”
Jessica's face fell.
“Does that include me?”
“Yes.”
She sat down.
Dad suddenly laughed.
It was a bitter, exhausted laugh.
“You think this makes you powerful?”
I looked at him.
“I don't want power.”
“You're about to destroy this family.”
“No.”
I stood.
“You already did.”
Dad's eyes hardened.
“You don't know what your grandfather wanted.”
I held up the letter.
“Then tell me.”
He stared at me.
Finally, he whispered:
“Your grandfather didn't leave you the estate.”
I frowned.
“What?”
“He left you the evidence.”
Daniel went still.
“What evidence?”
May you like
Dad looked directly at me.
“Everything you need to prove who tried to kill you.”
Related Stories
