“He panicked.”
Everything suddenly aligned.
The unnatural warmth Charles had shown me when Daniel and I became engaged.
The insistence on handling our prenuptial agreement.
The family accountant.
The trusts.
The endless talk about protecting “family assets.”
They had never been protecting themselves from me.
They had been protecting what they had taken from me.
“Did Daniel know?”
“No.”
“Barbara?”
“I don’t think so.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
“I don’t expect you to believe anything.”
For the first time, Patricia sounded stripped of every defense.
“I hated myself for years.”
“Not enough to tell me.”
“No.”
That honesty hurt.
“Why prepare the divorce filing in January?”
“Because I found out Dad had moved the money again.”
“Where?”
“Into a private development fund.”
“What development?”
“The Riverside District project.”
I knew it.
Everyone knew it.
The Whitmore company’s largest project ever.
Luxury apartments.
Retail.
A hotel.
