Chapter 15 - My Sister-in-Law Finally Broke
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Rebecca showed up at my office the following afternoon.
She didn't make an appointment.
She marched through the hotel lobby wearing sunglasses, a black designer coat, and the kind of expression that usually preceded a complaint about poor service.
My assistant called upstairs.
“Claire, there's a woman here demanding to see you.”
I knew immediately who it was.
I asked my assistant to bring her to a small conference room near the lobby.
I wasn't meeting Rebecca behind a closed office door.
Not after Christmas Eve.
Rebecca removed her sunglasses.
Her eyes were swollen.
For a moment, I wondered if she had been crying.
Then she spoke.
“You have to tell the bank you're dropping the complaint.”
I stared at her.
“Excuse me?”
“Daniel says the lender is investigating everything.”
“They should be.”
“You don't understand what this could do to us.”
I folded my arms.
“Who is us?”
She looked away.
“My business. Mom and Dad. Daniel.”
“And what about me?”
Rebecca didn't answer.
I leaned forward.
“How much did Daniel give you?”
“That's none of your business.”
“It became my business when my house was used to finance it.”
Her expression changed.
She sat down heavily.
After a long silence, she whispered:
“Eighty-six thousand.”
I felt my stomach tighten.
“From the loan?”
She nodded.
“Over several payments.”
I took a slow breath.
“What happened to the twenty-four thousand from his severance?”
Rebecca stared at the table.
“That came first.”
I closed my eyes.
So Daniel had given Rebecca his severance, then borrowed even more.
“Why?”
“My company was in trouble.”
“I gathered that.”
“One venue contract fell apart. Then a major client refused to pay. I had rent, staff, vendors. Everything was falling behind.”
“Why didn't you close the business?”
Tears filled her eyes.
“Because I couldn't let everyone know I'd failed.”
I almost laughed at the familiar words.
In the Bennett family, apparently, failure was more frightening than dishonesty.
“Did you know I hadn't authorized the loan?”
Rebecca wiped her eyes.
“Daniel said you'd agreed to refinance.”
“Did you believe him?”
She hesitated.
“That isn't the point.”
“It is exactly the point.”
She finally looked at me.
“Mom said you wouldn't make a fuss.”
The room seemed to tilt.
“Evelyn knew?”
Rebecca pressed her lips together.
“Rebecca.”
She whispered:
“Mom told Daniel there was no reason to involve you in every financial decision.”
I stared at her.
Then she reached into her handbag.
For the first time since arriving, she looked genuinely afraid.
“There's something else.”
She pulled out a folded invoice.
“I found this when Daniel asked me to help organize the payments.”
She pushed it across the table.
At the top were three words.
MORROW ADVISORY SERVICES.
Below was a payment request for thirty-eight thousand four hundred dollars.
I read the company name twice.
Then I remembered Evelyn's maiden name.
Morrow.
I looked at Rebecca.
“What is this?”
She shook her head.
May you like
“Ask your mother-in-law.”
And for the first time, Rebecca Bennett left a room without trying to win the argument.
