PART 9

I stared at him.

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

Dad looked down.

“Because she was my daughter.”

His voice became quieter.

“And because I was ashamed.”

“Of what?”

“Of realizing I had raised someone who could look at me and see a house, a truck, and a bank account instead of her father.”

Nobody said anything.

Then Harold pointed toward the black folder.

“There’s something else.”

He removed a copy of an old document.

It was a medical power-of-attorney form.

But something was wrong.

The signature looked almost identical to Dad’s.

Almost.

I stared at it.

“This isn’t Dad’s signature.”

Dad nodded.

“No.”

Harold pointed to the date.

“That was the first forged document.”

I felt sick.

“So Vanessa has been forging his signature for months?”

“Apparently.”

“But why?”

Dad answered.

“Because she thought she could eventually prove I was no longer capable of managing my affairs.”

He looked at me.

“Once that happened, she believed she could take control.”

I remembered Vanessa’s phone call.

The confidence.

The certainty.

The way she had said everything belonged to her.

She hadn’t been guessing.

She had believed she had already won.

But there was still one question.

“Where did Grant fit into all this?”

Dad’s expression darkened.

“Grant knew.”

I stared at him.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

“How?”

Dad reached for another document.

“This.”

It was an email.

Grant had sent it to Vanessa.

The subject line read:

After Dad Signs

I read it.

The message was short.

Once the transfer is complete, we’ll sell the house immediately. Keep Natalie away from everything until it’s done. She’ll fight if she finds out.

My hands began trembling.

“They planned this together.”

Harold nodded.

Dad looked away.

I could see the pain on his face.

“Your brother-in-law never loved this family.”

I looked at him.

“Why would you say that?”

“Because I finally understand.”

Dad stood.

“Vanessa loved what I could provide.”

He paused.

“Grant loved what Vanessa could provide.”

The room became silent.

“And somewhere along the way,” Dad said, “they convinced each other that I was already dead.”

We returned to the house with the sheriff.

Vanessa and Grant were sitting in the living room.

The moment Vanessa saw Dad walk through the door, she began crying.

“Dad!”

She stood and rushed toward him.

Dad raised his hand.

She stopped.

“Don’t.”

The single word froze her.

Grant stood behind her.

He looked terrified.

The sheriff remained near the door.

Harold entered behind us.

Vanessa stared at him.

Then at me.

Then at Dad.

“Dad, I can explain.”

“No.”

“Please.”

“You can explain to the sheriff.”

Her face went white.

“What?”

Dad walked into the room.

“I know about the money.”

Vanessa’s eyes widened.

“I know about Richard Bell.”

She swallowed.

“I know about the forged documents.”

Grant stepped backward.

Dad looked directly at him.

“And I know you were planning to sell the house.”

Grant shook his head.

“That’s not true.”

Dad smiled sadly.

“I have your email.”

Grant stopped breathing for a moment.

Vanessa looked at him.

“You said there were no emails.”

Grant whispered, “I thought I deleted them.”

Harold sighed.

“You don’t understand computers as well as you think.”

CONTINUE FOR NEXT PART….