Chapter 6: The Price of Becoming a Family
Rebecca stared at the floor for several seconds before she answered Daniel's question.
“Involved how?””
She swallowed.
“Margaret approached me last year. She said she helped wealthy families resolve difficult domestic situations. She knew about David's situation with Emily. She knew Laura had died, and she knew I was struggling to find my place in the family.””
I stood beside the dressing table, still wearing the suit I had chosen for our wedding. My boutonniere was wilting against my lapel.
“You're telling me a stranger approached you and offered to help you deal with my daughter?””
“She wasn't a stranger. She'd been a client of the company where I work. She understood people like me.””
“People like you?”” Daniel asked.
Rebecca's eyes flashed.
“Women who marry men with complicated families. Women who spend years giving everything to a household and are still treated like outsiders.””
Daniel shook his head.
“You were offered money to arrange placements for children, weren't you?””
Rebecca didn't answer.
I felt something inside me go quiet.
“Rebecca, look at me.””
She did.
“Did you accept money from Margaret to arrange Emily's placement?””
Her lips trembled.
“Yes.””
Emily made a small sound behind me.
I turned immediately.
She was staring at Rebecca, her bouquet slipping from her hands.
“Daddy,” she whispered, “does that mean she doesn't love me?””
I crossed the room and knelt beside her.
“No, sweetheart. It means an adult made a terrible decision. It has nothing to do with whether you're lovable.””
“But Rebecca said I was expensive.””
The room stopped.
I looked up.
Rebecca's face had gone white.
“When did she say that?”” I asked.
Emily twisted the ribbon around her bouquet.
“Last month. I broke a glass in the kitchen, and she said I was costing her more money than I was worth.””
Rebecca took a step forward.
“Emily, I was upset. I didn't mean—”
“Stay where you are,” I said.
She stopped.
Emily leaned against me.
“Then she told me that when you married her, I wouldn't be your problem anymore.””
I wrapped my arms around my daughter.
There were moments when anger felt like fire. This was different. It was the cold, crushing realization that someone I had trusted had been teaching my child to measure her worth in terms of the inconvenience she caused.
Rebecca had sat at our dinner table. She had helped Emily blow out birthday candles. She had tucked blankets around her during movie nights.
And all that time, she had been making my daughter afraid of losing her home.
“Tell me everything,” I said.
Rebecca wiped her cheeks.
“Margaret said there were families who would pay for children to receive specialized care. She explained that the residential program was legal, that the children received education and therapy, and that parents sometimes needed help making difficult decisions.””
“Emily doesn't need residential care.””
“I know that now.””
“No. You knew it then. She's a healthy seven-year-old who misses her mother.””
Rebecca flinched.
“I wasn't thinking clearly.””
“You were thinking clearly enough to sign my name.””
She looked down.
The silence stretched until Daniel broke it.
“How much did they pay you?””
Rebecca hesitated.
“Twenty-five thousand dollars.””
“For what?””
“For referring the family.””
“What family?”” I demanded.
“Ours?””
She nodded.
I stared at her.
Twenty-five thousand dollars.
That was the price she had accepted for helping arrange my daughter's disappearance from our home.
“Where is the money?”” Daniel asked.
“Most of it is still in my account.””
“And the rest?””
“I paid off a credit card.””
Daniel let out a humorless laugh.
“So you were willing to sacrifice a child to clear your balance.””
“Don't pretend you're morally superior!”” Rebecca snapped.
“You have no idea what it's like to be the person who comes second every single day.””
Daniel didn't respond.
I stood slowly.
“Rebecca, you had a choice. You could have told me you were unhappy. You could have ended our relationship. You could have walked away.””
“I loved you.””
“Then you should have protected the people I loved.””
She covered her face.
For a moment, I felt sorry for her. Not because her actions deserved forgiveness, but because I could finally see how resentment had twisted her thinking. She had wanted a family so badly that she had begun treating my daughter as an obstacle rather than a person.
But sympathy couldn't erase the danger.
“Where is Margaret now?”” I asked.
“I don't know.””
“Who was supposed to collect Emily?””
“A driver named Paul. I never met him in person.””
“What's his last name?””
“I don't know.””
“Where was he supposed to take her?””
Rebecca looked at the floor again.
“Margaret's facility in Pennsylvania.””
Emily lifted her head.
“Pennsylvania is far away.””
I turned to her.
“Yes, sweetheart. It is.””
“Would you have come to get me?””
The question nearly broke me.
I cupped her face in my hands.
“I would have come to the ends of the earth for you.””
She searched my face as if she needed to verify every word.
“Even if Rebecca told you not to?””
“Especially then.””
She wrapped her arms around my neck.
Behind us, Rebecca began sobbing.
I didn't turn around.
My phone vibrated.
Susan Bennett had sent a message.
Emergency filing underway. Bank confirms attempted transfer was stopped. Police are being notified. Please preserve every document and message.
I showed Daniel.
He nodded.
“I'm going to secure the house. Nobody gets near Emily without us knowing.””
“Call the security company. Change the access codes. Save every camera recording from the last month.””
Daniel headed toward the door.
Rebecca suddenly grabbed my sleeve.
“David, wait.””
I looked at her hand until she released me.
“What?””
“There's something else.””
I closed my eyes briefly.
Of course there was.
“What now?””
“Margaret said the trust wasn't the only reason she wanted Emily placed in the program.””
My stomach tightened.
“Explain.””
Rebecca glanced toward Emily, then lowered her voice.
“She said Laura had discovered something before she died. Something about the trust. Margaret believed there were records hidden in your house.””
“What records?””
“I don't know.””
“You're lying.””
“I'm not. I swear.””
She took a shaky breath.
“Margaret told me that if Emily was placed under a new guardian, the guardian could request access to certain estate records. She said it would make the money easier to manage.””
I thought about the lockbox in my home office.
The brass key in Emily's purse.
Rebecca's secret phone.
Everything seemed to lead back to that little metal key.
“Why did you give Emily the key?”” I asked.
Rebecca looked startled.
“I didn't know she had it.””
“Emily said you gave it to her.””
She shook her head.
“No. I told her to find it.””
My daughter's fingers tightened around my hand.
“You told me it was a treasure hunt,” she whispered.
Rebecca closed her eyes.
“I needed to know whether the key was still where David kept it. I didn't think she'd understand what it was.””
I stared at her.
“You used my daughter to search my office.””
“I thought it would be safer than going myself.””
“Safer for whom?””
She had no answer.
I took the key from Emily's little purse and slipped it into my pocket.
Then I called the police.
I explained the forged signature, the attempted withdrawal, the planned pickup, and the documents we'd discovered. The officer asked us to remain at the chapel until a detective could speak with us.
Rebecca sat in silence while I answered questions.
For the first time that day, she seemed to understand that the wedding wasn't simply postponed.
It was over.
When the officer ended the call, Rebecca stood.
“David, please. If I cooperate, can we work this out?””
I looked at the woman in the wedding dress.
“No.””
“You don't even know what else happened.””
“Then tell the police.””
Her eyes filled again.
“I thought we were going to be a family.””
I glanced at Emily, who was now sitting beside Daniel, drinking water from a paper cup.
“We were,” I said.
“You were the one who decided my daughter didn't belong in it.””
Rebecca's mouth opened, but no words came out.
A moment later, someone knocked on the bridal-room door.
Two police officers entered, followed by a woman carrying a leather briefcase.
She introduced herself as Detective Harris.
Then she looked at Rebecca.
“Ms. Collins, we need to ask you about a missing document from Laura Mercer's estate.””
Rebecca's face went completely still.
The detective opened her briefcase and removed a photograph.
It showed a handwritten letter, a bank statement, and a document bearing Laura's signature.
Detective Harris placed the photograph on the table.
“Mr. Mercer,” she said, “your late wife may have uncovered the same financial scheme we're investigating now.””
I stared at the photograph.
Because I recognized the letter.
May you like
Laura had written it to me six months before she died.
And I had never seen it before.
