2026-01-07 00:14:00They ordered more coffee and stayed in the café as the afternoon turned to evening. Two strangers connected by a father who had failed them both in different ways.
Ashley wrapped her hands around her cup. The warmth seemed to steady her as she began to talk."I grew up knowing I had a father who sent checks but never visited. Never called on my birthday. Never showed up."Damien listened without interrupting. He owed her that much."My mother would tell me stories about him. How charming he was when they met. How he promised to take care of us."Ashley's voice was soft but steady. Years of therapy had probably helped her tell this story without breaking."But the promises stopped when I was still a baby. The checks came every month like clockwork but nothing else. No cards. No phone calls. Nothing."She looked at Damien. "I spent my whole childhood thinking I was not good enough for him to love."The words hit h
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CHAPTER 90
Damien did not wait for Ashley to ask. He called a family meeting three days after Sarah Kim's assessment and the weight of what needed to happen sat heavily on his chest.Marcus joined via video from Germany. His face filled one half of the conference room screen. Ashley sat across from Damien with Sarah Kim beside her. Richard was there too.The room felt formal but the air between them was different now. Less hostile. More like family trying to find their way through complicated truths.Damien spoke first. His voice was steady but his hands shook slightly under the table."Ashley, our mother committed fraud that hurt you. It was not malicious but it was wrong."Ashley watched him carefully. Her expression was guarded but open."She is gone so she cannot make it right but I can try."Damien pulled out a folder and slid it across the table. Financial statements from his CloudTech earnings. Numbers that represented years of careful saving."I am proposing to give you six hundred thous
CHAPTER 89
Damien called Richard from the hotel that night. His hands shook as he dialed and he could barely keep his voice steady."Ashley thinks her attorney is planning something. He knows about my custody case. Details he should not have access to."Richard was quiet for three seconds. "Tell me everything."Damien recounted the conversation. Gerald Hutchinson is pushing for two million dollars. The comments about Emma. The timing of it all."I need you to dig into this guy. Find out who he is and what he is really after.""I will start tonight."Richard worked fast. By morning, he had a file on Gerald Hutchinson that made Damien's stomach turn.They met for breakfast at Damien's hotel. Richard spread documents across the table like evidence at a crime scene."Hutchinson specializes in estate disputes but his methods are questionable at best."Richard pulled out a printout from the Pennsylvania Bar Association
CHAPTER 88
They ordered more coffee and stayed in the café as the afternoon turned to evening. Two strangers connected by a father who had failed them both in different ways.Ashley wrapped her hands around her cup. The warmth seemed to steady her as she began to talk."I grew up knowing I had a father who sent checks but never visited. Never called on my birthday. Never showed up."Damien listened without interrupting. He owed her that much."My mother would tell me stories about him. How charming he was when they met. How he promised to take care of us."Ashley's voice was soft but steady. Years of therapy had probably helped her tell this story without breaking."But the promises stopped when I was still a baby. The checks came every month like clockwork but nothing else. No cards. No phone calls. Nothing."She looked at Damien. "I spent my whole childhood thinking I was not good enough for him to love."The words hit h
CHAPTER 87
Damien spent the next three days in his apartment going through boxes of his mother's old papers. He was searching for answers that might explain why she had done what she did.The boxes smelled like dust and old perfume. Each document he touched felt like he was reaching back through time to a woman he thought he knew.Bank statements from 2008 showed their account balance dropping month by month. Medical bills from neurologists and specialists piled up in neat folders his mother had labeled carefully.There were letters from collection agencies, past due notices from the mortgage company, and credit card statements with minimum payments circled in red pen.His mother had been organized even in her desperation. Everything was filed, dated, and sorted.On the fourth day, Damien found something different. A leather-bound journal was tucked beneath a stack of medical records from his father's Alzheimer's diagnosis.The cover was wo
CHAPTER 86
Richard's handwriting expert arrived at the office three days after the Philadelphia meeting. Dr. Helen Martinez was a woman in her sixties with brown hair and reading glasses hanging from a chain around her neck.She spread the insurance documents across Richard's conference table like a surgeon preparing for an operation. Damien watched her work with a magnifying glass and measurement tools."The signature on the beneficiary change form shows several irregularities," Dr. Martinez began. She pointed to the capital W in William's name. "Notice how the loop here is too wide compared to authenticated samples from the same period."Damien leaned closer. The difference was subtle but once she pointed it out, he could not unsee it."The pressure is also inconsistent. Your father's authentic signatures show steady pressure throughout. This signature has hesitation marks."Dr. Martinez pulled out three other documents with William's verified signature from 2008. Bank statements and medical
CHAPTER 85
Richard stared at the threatening text message on Damien's phone. His expression hardened but his voice stayed calm."This changes everything. Screenshot that message and forward it to me immediately."Damien's hands shook as he followed the instructions. "They are threatening my daughter.""Which means they are desperate or stupid. Either way, we can use this."Richard called his investigator and explained the situation. Within minutes, arrangements were made to increase security around Emma's school."But I think we need to meet Ashley face to face," Richard said after hanging up. "We need to understand what she really wants.""After that text message? She just threatened Emma.""That text might not have come from her. Gerald Hutchinson has a reputation for dirty tactics but threatening children crosses a line even for him."Damien wanted to argue but Richard's logic made sense. "So what do you suggest?"<
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