Chapter 2 - WHAT OLIVIA HAD BEEN HIDING
We moved Mason into our bedroom.
Dana asked everyone to remain downstairs while she reviewed the records.
I wanted to stay.
But Olivia needed me more.
I sat beside her on the bed while Mason slept between us.
His breathing was shallow but steady.
I touched his forehead again.
Still warm.
“I should have known,” I whispered.
Olivia looked at me.
“You couldn't know what nobody let you see.”
“I sent the money.”
“I know.”
“Every month.”
“I know.”
“And you still struggled to buy medicine.”
Her eyes filled again.
“Your mother controlled the accounts.”
“What does that mean?”
Olivia hesitated.
Then she walked to the closet.
She reached behind a stack of folded blankets and pulled out a small canvas bag.
She brought it to the bed and unzipped it.
Inside were receipts.
Dozens of them.
Pharmacy receipts.
Grocery receipts.
Utility bills.
Bank notices.
Late-payment warnings.
I picked up the first one.
“Why didn't you show me?”
“I tried.”
“When?”
“Three months ago.”
I stared at her.
She continued.
“Your mother came into the kitchen while I was on the phone with you. She told me she needed to speak with you privately. After you hung up, she told me if I kept complaining about money, you would think I couldn't manage the household.”
I shook my head.
“She said that?”
Olivia nodded.
“She also told me your job was stressful.”
I looked down at the receipts.
One was from a pediatric clinic.
Another was for medicine.
Another showed a declined payment.
“How long has Mason been sick?”
“Since last night.”
“Why didn't you take him to urgent care?”
“I tried.”
My head lifted.
“What?”
“She said we couldn't spend money on another doctor's visit.”
My chest tightened.
“She said that?”
“She said babies get fevers all the time.”
I stood.
“Where is she?”
Olivia grabbed my wrist.
“No.”
I looked at her.
“Ethan, please.”
I sat back down.
She opened another compartment in the bag.
Inside was her phone.
The screen was cracked.
She unlocked it and opened a folder.
There were screenshots.
Messages from my mother.
Some were ordinary.
Please remember you're hosting the family this weekend.
Can you have Olivia prepare dinner?
Don't let her waste money on unnecessary things.
Then the messages became uglier.
You need to remember who pays for this house.
Ethan works hard. He doesn't need to come home to more problems.
If you embarrass me in front of the family again, there will be consequences.
My jaw tightened.
“Why didn't you show me these?”
“She told me you would think I was trying to separate you from your family.”
I closed my eyes.
That sounded exactly like something my mother would say.
Olivia whispered:
“She also said she knew how to make you choose.”
I looked at her.
“What does that mean?”
Olivia didn't answer.
Instead, she opened one final message.
It was from six days earlier.
My mother's words appeared on the screen.
If you want Ethan to keep trusting you, stop asking questions.
Below it was another message.
You don't know what I can take away from you.
I felt cold.
“What did she mean?”
Olivia shook her head.
“I don't know.”
A knock came at the bedroom door.
Dana stood there.
“We found something.”
I followed her downstairs.
The atmosphere had changed completely.
Some relatives had already left.
Others were sitting stiffly around the dining table.
The seafood feast remained untouched.
Dana placed three documents in front of me.
“Your mother opened several accounts connected to household spending.”
I looked at the pages.
“There are withdrawals from the family expense account.”
“How much?”
Dana gave me the number.
I stared at her.
It was far more than I expected.
“Where did it go?”
“That's the problem.”
She pointed at several transactions.
“Some payments went to luxury retailers.”
Others went to restaurants.
One was a large transfer to a private investment account.
“Whose account?”
Dana looked at my mother.
“My mother’s?”
“No.”
She slid another document across the table.
“Your mother's brother.”
I looked toward Uncle Raymond.
He went pale.
“Ray?”
He stood.
“I can explain.”
My mother shouted:
“Don't.”
Raymond froze.
I stared at him.
“Explain.”
He rubbed his hands together.
“Your mother asked me to hold some money temporarily.”
“How much?”
He didn't answer.
“How much?”
“Forty-eight thousand.”
The room erupted.
My aunt stood.
“You said it was twenty!”
Raymond turned toward her.
“I didn't know where it came from!”
My mother slammed her hand on the table.
“Enough!”
Everyone went quiet.
She looked at me.
“You are destroying your own family over accounting mistakes.”
Dana interrupted.
“These aren't accounting mistakes.”
My mother glared at her.
“You don't know us.”
Dana calmly replied:
“I know the transaction records.”
That sentence ended the argument.
Then Dana pulled out a photograph.
“There's another issue.”
She placed it on the table.
It showed a man entering a bank.
I recognized him.
Brandon.
My cousin.
“What was he doing there?”
Brandon looked sick.
“I was told to deliver documents.”
“To whom?”
He swallowed.
“To a notary.”
My mother closed her eyes.
I looked at the photograph again.
“When?”
“Two weeks ago.”
“What documents?”
Brandon didn't answer.
Dana did.
“Property documents.”
I looked toward my mother.
She didn't look at me anymore.
She stared at the floor.
And for the first time in my life, I saw her without the confidence she had always worn like armor.
She looked cornered.
Then my phone buzzed.
A message appeared from an unknown number.
You should ask your mother why the house was transferred before your son was born.
I stared at the screen.
Olivia stepped beside me.
“What is it?”
I turned the phone toward her.
Her face went white.
Dana saw it.
“Who sent that?”
“I don't know.”
Dana took a photograph of the screen.
Then she looked at me.
“Mr. Carter, this investigation may be much larger than we initially thought.”
My mother finally looked up.
Her voice was barely audible.
“Ethan…”
“What?”
May you like
She swallowed.
“The house was never supposed to be yours.”
