Chapter 13 - REBECCA COMES BACK
Rebecca was arrested that afternoon.
Charles surrendered through his attorney several hours later.
The charges were only the beginning.
Forgery.
Conspiracy.
Illegal surveillance.
Attempted fraud.
Additional financial charges remained under investigation.
Judge Collier faced a separate inquiry.
Dr. Mercer’s medical license was reviewed.
Jonathan was charged as well, despite cooperating.
No one walked away clean.
But none of that prepared me for seeing Rebecca again.
Three weeks later, her attorney requested a meeting.
Thomas advised against it.
I almost agreed.
Then Rebecca made one request.
She wanted to apologize to Emily.
My answer was immediate.
“No.”
Rebecca would not get access to my daughter simply because guilt had arrived after consequences.
But I agreed to meet her alone with Thomas present.
She entered the conference room wearing ordinary clothes.
No designer gown.
No diamond earrings.
No perfect makeup.
For a moment I saw the woman I thought I knew.
Then I remembered the journal.
She sat across from me.
“Is Emily okay?”
“Yes.”
“I think about her.”
“You wrote about her like she was a business problem.”
Rebecca looked down.
“I know how it looks.”
Thomas shifted beside me.
I almost laughed.
“How it looks?”
“I did terrible things.”
“Yes.”
“But not everything was fake.”
I said nothing.
She leaned forward.
“I did love you.”
“You researched me for years.”
“At first.”
“You researched my dying wife.”
Her face tightened.
“My father started that.”
“And you continued.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Rebecca wiped her eyes.
“Because he spent my entire life teaching me that people were either useful or dangerous.”
I felt nothing.
“Then that’s something to discuss with a therapist.”
“I’m trying to explain.”
“I don’t need an explanation.”
“You came.”
“I came because I wanted to know one thing.”
She looked at me.
“What?”
I placed the crumpled note on the table.
“Why give this to Emily?”
Rebecca stared at it.
“I wasn’t going to.”
“But you did.”
“She kept asking questions.”
“So you terrified her?”
“I wanted her prepared.”
“For being taken from her father?”
Rebecca began crying.
“I thought once we were married you would eventually understand.”
“Understand what?”
“That there wasn’t room for Laura, Emily, me, and everything else.”
My jaw tightened.
“There was room.”
“Not for me.”
“There was.”
I leaned forward.
“You just wanted all of it.”
My house.
My company.
My loyalty.
My future.
And you wanted it without accepting the one person who mattered most to me.
Rebecca whispered, “I was jealous of a dead woman.”
That was the closest she ever came to honesty.
“Laura didn’t destroy us.”
“I know.”
“Emily didn’t destroy us.”
“I know.”
“You did.”
Rebecca looked at the note.
“I wrote it because I thought if Emily believed you had agreed, she would stop fighting.”
My stomach turned.
“You wanted to break her trust in me.”
“Yes.”
There it was.
No excuse.
No misunderstanding.
Just truth.
I stood.
Rebecca panicked.
“Daniel, please.”
“I’m done.”
“Tell Emily I’m sorry.”
“No.”
Her face crumpled.
“Why?”
“Because apologies are supposed to help the person you hurt.”
I picked up the note.
“Yours would only help you.”
I walked toward the door.
Rebecca called after me.
“Did you ever love me?”
I stopped.
For one second I considered ignoring her.
Then I turned.
“Yes.”
Her face changed.
I continued.
“That’s why what you did mattered.”
Then I left.
Outside, Thomas joined me.
“You okay?”
“I will be.”
My phone buzzed.
It was my mother.
A photograph appeared.
Emily was standing in our kitchen holding a mixing bowl.
Flour covered her nose.
The message underneath read:
She says you promised pancakes for dinner.
I smiled.
Thomas noticed.
“Emergency?”
May you like
“The most important kind.”
I drove home.
