Chapter 3 - RACHEL'S PERFECT LITTLE FAMILY|
Grant left the hospital without saying goodbye to Eli.
I watched him walk through the glass doors, his phone already pressed to his ear.
A minute later, my screen lit up.
GRANT: We need to discuss what you've done.
I didn't respond.
Holly Mercer arrived shortly afterward. She had been my attorney before she became my closest friend, and she was one of the few people who had never confused Grant's wealth with his character.
She set a coffee beside me.
“Daniel called.”
“I assumed he would.”
“The trustees have suspended Grant's emergency allocation authority. They want an independent audit.”
“Good.”
“They also want you to attend the meeting.”
I looked at Eli.
“I can't leave him.”
“We can arrange for a secure video call.”
“Then that's what we'll do.”
Holly opened her briefcase.
“There is something else. The transfer to Whitmore Heart Center wasn't the only payment connected to Rachel Palmer.”
I frowned.
“What do you mean?”
“Her daughter's medical expenses have been paid through a private charitable foundation. The foundation receives money from the Whitmore family trust.”
“Grant told me the foundation helped families who couldn't afford treatment.”
“It does. But Rachel's payments are different.”
She placed a spreadsheet on the table.
There were monthly transfers, travel reimbursements, apartment payments, and several large payments labeled pediatric support.
I stared at the total.
“That's nearly two million dollars.”
“Over four years.”
“Does the foundation know?”
“We don't know yet. The director is refusing to speak without counsel.”
I looked at the apartment payments.
“Rachel doesn't struggle financially.”
Holly shook her head.
“Not according to these records.”
My stomach tightened.
“Did Grant approve them?”
“Every one.”
I looked toward Eli's bed.
He was awake now, coloring a picture of a dinosaur.
I didn't want him growing up believing that love meant accepting whatever someone gave you, even when it hurt.
“Find out where the money went,” I said.
Holly nodded.
Later that afternoon, I received a message from Rachel.
I heard you had Grant's authority suspended. Sophie is frightened. Please don't punish an innocent child because you're angry with him.
I read it twice.
Then I called her.
“Rachel, I don't blame Sophie.”
“Then why are you doing this?”
“Because emergency blood was taken from a regional reserve for a scheduled procedure. Because the company has been paying your expenses through a charitable foundation. Because my son nearly died while Grant was celebrating your daughter's birthday.”
Rachel exhaled sharply.
“Grant promised me the blood would be replaced.”
“That doesn't make it right.”
“Sophie has a heart condition.”
“I know.”
“She needs surgery.”
“I hope she gets it.”
“Then you understand why he helped.”
“I understand why a mother fights for her child. I don't understand why you think my child should have less protection than yours.”
Rachel went quiet.
Then she said, “Grant told me you didn't want another baby.”
I froze.
“What?”
“He said you were unhappy about the pregnancy. That you had been distant for months.”
I looked at Eli.
He was still coloring.
“Grant told you that?”
“Yes.”
“Rachel, I begged him to come to every prenatal appointment. He missed six. He forgot the date of the anatomy scan. He didn't know our son's blood type.”
Rachel said nothing.
“He told you I didn't want my baby because he needed you to believe he was a devoted father somewhere else.”
“That isn't—”
“Don't finish that sentence unless you can prove it.”
I ended the call.
Holly watched me carefully.
“What did she say?”
“That Grant has been telling her a different version of our marriage.”
Holly closed her folder.
“Then we need to find out how many people have been hearing it.”
A moment later, a nurse entered with Eli's discharge estimate.
He would need another week in the hospital, followed by physical therapy and regular monitoring.
I signed the paperwork.
Then my phone rang.
It was Daniel.
“Mara, the trustees found something in the original company archive. Grant didn't just divert the blood.”
“What else did he do?”
“He changed the ownership records of the reserve subsidiary.”
My fingers tightened around the phone.
“When?”
“Six years ago.”
“Why?”
Daniel lowered his voice.
“Because the subsidiary was supposed to remain under your control. He transferred the voting rights into a company registered in Rachel Palmer's name.”
I stared at the wall.
May you like
The woman Grant called an old friend had been given control of the very system that could have saved our son.
And that was only the beginning.
