Chapter 6 - WHY THEY NEEDED ME BROKE
Madison sat on my couch with both hands wrapped around a glass of water.
For once, she didn’t look glamorous.
She looked scared.
“Talk,” I said.
She stared at the floor.
“Dad’s company has been losing money for years.”
“We know.”
“No. You don’t.”
She looked up.
“It’s worse.”
Carter Coastal Imports owed banks, suppliers, private lenders.
Dad had hidden losses by moving money between accounts.
The trusts became his emergency fund.
Each time the company got close to collapsing, he took more.
“Why the yacht?” Jake demanded. “How does buying you a yacht save a company?”
Madison swallowed.
“It wasn’t just a gift.”
She explained Dad was trying to impress an investor named Preston Vale.
Vale loved sailing.
Dad wanted Madison hosting him, his family, and potential clients.
“So my inheritance bought Dad a floating business meeting?” I asked.
“And my condo?” Jake snapped.
Madison covered her face.
“I’m sorry.”
Jake stood.
“No. Don’t do that.”
“What?”
“Don’t cry because you got caught.”
She flinched.
He walked out.
I wanted to follow him.
Instead, I asked the question that mattered.
“Why did Dad need me to stay broke?”
Madison wiped her cheeks.
“Because you ask questions when you have options.”
That hit hard.
“Explain.”
“You were always the one who pushed back. Dad said if you ever had enough money to hire lawyers, you’d tear through everything.”
I stared at her.
“So he kept me dependent.”
“He knew you thought the Army was all you had.”
My stomach twisted.
Years of choosing the cheaper apartment.
Years of refusing vacations.
Years of sending money home when Mom claimed Dad’s company was struggling.
“How much have I given them?”
Madison whispered, “I don’t know.”
I did.
Roughly $27,000 over eight years.
Money I sent because they said they needed help.
While they controlled hundreds of thousands belonging to me.
Daniel arrived an hour later.
I told him everything.
He listened without interrupting.
Then he set down a new report.
“We found something else.”
I almost laughed.
“Of course you did.”
“The trusts weren’t the only source of money.”
He pointed to an account.
My name appeared beside a military designation.
“What is that?”
“A life insurance payout.”
I frowned.
“No one died.”
Daniel’s expression became careful.
“Your uncle Michael did.”
Uncle Mike had served in the Marines.
He died when I was seventeen.
“He didn’t have kids,” I said.
“No.”
Daniel slid the beneficiary form toward me.
“He named you.”
My hands went numb.
“How much?”
“One hundred thousand dollars.”
“I never received it.”
“I know.”
Daniel pointed to the deposit history.
“It was paid when you turned eighteen.”
“Where?”
He looked me directly in the eyes.
“Into an account your parents controlled.”
My voice barely worked.
“And then?”
May you like
Daniel turned the page.
“Three weeks later, your father bought Madison her first car.”
