Chapter 13 - THE LETTER
The envelope was dated eight years earlier.
Dad recognized it immediately.
“I wrote this to your mother.”
“About Dominic?”
“Yes.”
“Why did he have it?”
“I don’t know.”
The seal had already been opened.
I read it standing in the apartment kitchen.
Margaret,
I looked into what you told me. Dominic has debts he has not disclosed to Audrey. Nothing criminal that I can find, but enough that I believe she deserves to know before the wedding.
My chest tightened.
I kept reading.
I do not want to use my position or name to interfere with Audrey’s life. But protecting her autonomy means making sure she has the truth. Talk to her. If you cannot, I will.
I looked up.
“You knew.”
Dad nodded.
“Your mother asked me for forty-eight hours.”
“And then she got sick.”
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t you tell me after?”
His face tightened.
“Because she asked me not to ruin your wedding while she was undergoing tests.”
“After she died?”
He looked down.
“I should have.”
Anger rose so fast I had to grip the table.
“You watched me stay married to him.”
“I saw you happy.”
“You saw what I showed you.”
“Yes.”
“You’re a general. You spent your entire career reading people!”
“I’m also your father.”
“That’s supposed to make you better at it!”
“No.”
His voice cracked.
“It made me afraid to lose you.”
That stopped me.
Dad sat down.
“When you were twenty-six, you told me you were tired of people checking your life for you. Background checks. Drivers. Security. People deciding who was good enough.”
I remembered.
“I backed off too far.”
“You should’ve told me.”
“Yes.”
The simplicity of it broke through my anger.
No excuse.
No manipulation.
Just yes.
Dad looked at me.
“I failed you there.”
I sat across from him.
For a while, neither of us spoke.
Then Rebecca entered.
“There’s an update.”
I folded the letter.
“What?”
“Dominic turned himself in through counsel regarding the questioned financial documents.”
Dad looked up.
“For criminal charges?”
“No charges have been filed yet. But investigators are reviewing the signatures and transfers.”
My stomach twisted.
“What about custody?”
“Temporary hearing tomorrow.”
“So fast?”
“Because both sides requested emergency terms.”
I knew what Dominic wanted.
Access to Leo.
“What is he asking for?”
Rebecca hesitated.
“Joint physical custody immediately.”
I stared at her.
“Leo is seven days old.”
“I know.”
“I’m breastfeeding.”
“I know.”
“He’s never changed one diaper.”
“I know.”
“Why would he ask for that?”
Rebecca slid a document toward me.
“Because his filing says you are emotionally unstable after childbirth and being controlled by your father.”
My vision blurred with anger.
Then I saw the exhibits attached.
Photographs.
Me crying.
Me being helped into Dad’s vehicle.
Me entering his residence.
Someone had photographed me.
“Who took these?”
Rebecca’s jaw tightened.
“A private investigator.”
“When?”
“The day you left the hospital.”
My blood ran cold.
Dominic had started building a case against me—
May you like
before I even knew I was leaving him.
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