Chương 13
“The inheritance?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Thomas shrugged.
“Grandpa liked me.”
Claire waited.
“He liked Chloé too, but differently.”
“How?”
“He thought she was irresponsible.”
“That sounds charming.”
“He wasn’t wrong.”
Thomas rubbed his nose against the cold.
“When he set up the trust, he left most of it to me.”
Claire frowned.
“How much is most?”
Thomas looked embarrassed again.
“Eighty percent.”
She stared.
“And twenty percent to Chloé?”
“No.”
His pause told her there was another answer.
“To Mom.”
Claire’s stomach tightened.
“Nothing to Chloé?”
“Not directly.”
“Why?”
“He said Mom would make sure she was provided for.”
Claire closed her eyes.
There it was.
Another old sentence.
Another permission.
Maybe Marie had spent six years balancing some private ledger she believed her father had made unfair.
Claire opened her eyes.
“Did your mother know the split before he died?”
“I don’t know.”
“If she did, this might have started before the mortgage problem.”
Thomas looked toward the house.
Claire could tell the idea disturbed him.
“My grandfather was controlling.”
“What does that mean?”
“He used money to reward people.”
“For what?”
“Being the version of them he approved of.”
Thomas looked down.
“He paid for my education because I studied what he considered practical.”
“What about Chloé?”
“He refused to pay for art school.”
Claire said nothing.
Thomas exhaled.
“She never forgave him.”
“Did you?”
“For what?”
“For making you the good child.”
Thomas stared at her.
Claire immediately wished she had phrased it differently.
But he did not get angry.
He looked toward the cloudy sky.
“No.”
Then he corrected himself.
“I don’t know.”
The back door opened.
Emma leaned out.
“Thomas.”
He turned.
She held his phone.
“Daniel called.”
Thomas took it.
“Did he leave a message?”
“Yes.”
Emma’s expression had changed.
Claire noticed before Thomas did.
“What?”
“He called the lender attached to the apartment.”
Thomas stopped.
“He could do that already?”
“He asked you to authorize it.”
“I did.”
Emma nodded.
“He says they pulled the application file.”
Thomas looked at Claire.
“What did they find?”
Emma held up the phone.
“You should listen.”
Thomas opened the voicemail.
Daniel’s voice was calm and precise.
He said the lender had confirmed that the loan application contained identification in Thomas’s name, tax information, and an email address used for verification.
Thomas frowned.
The email address was not his.
Daniel spelled it.
The first half contained Thomas’s full name.
The domain was familiar.
Paul’s internet provider.
Thomas looked through the glass toward his father.
Daniel continued.
The account had been created three days before the loan application.
Claire felt the hair rise on her arms.
Then came the part that made Thomas stop breathing.
The verification phone number did not belong to Marie.
It belonged to Paul.
Thomas replayed the message.
Then he replayed it again.
Claire watched his face while Daniel’s voice repeated the number one digit at a time.
There was no mistake.
“That’s Dad’s phone.”
Emma looked through the kitchen window.
Paul was still inside with Léa.
He had Bunny propped against his chest while Léa explained something with both hands.
Thomas opened the back door.
“Dad.”
Paul looked up immediately.
Something in Thomas’s voice made him set Léa gently beside him.
Emma took Léa’s hand.
“Come help me find markers.”
Léa protested that she already knew where the markers were.
Emma led her away anyway.
Thomas stayed by the door.
“The lender used your phone number to verify my application.”
Paul did not react at first.
Then his face changed.
“No.”
Thomas held up the phone.
“Daniel confirmed it.”
“I never verified a loan for you.”
“Did Mom ever use your phone?”
Paul laughed once in disbelief.
“Of course she used my phone.”
“When?”
“I don’t know.”
“Three years ago.”
“I don’t know, Thomas.”
Thomas stepped into the room.
“Think.”
Paul closed his eyes.
Claire could see panic rising in him.
“My phone was always on the kitchen counter.”
“Did she know the passcode?”
“Yes.”
“Did she ever ask you for a verification code?”
Paul’s eyes opened.
He stared at Thomas.
Claire saw the memory arrive.
“She did.”
Thomas went still.
Paul pressed his fingers against his mouth.
“When?”
“I don’t know the date.”
“What did she say it was for?”
“A bank thing.”
Thomas’s jaw tightened.
Paul spoke faster.
“She said she was trying to get into an account and a code had gone to my phone because our numbers were linked somewhere.”
“Did you give it to her?”
Paul nodded.
“Yes.”
The room became very quiet.
Thomas looked down.
Paul stood.
“I didn’t know.”
“I believe you.”
Paul froze.
Thomas looked at him again.
“I believe you didn’t know what the code was for.”
Relief crossed Paul’s face too quickly.
Thomas saw it.
“That doesn’t make this okay.”
The relief disappeared.
“I know.”
“No.”
Thomas shook his head.
“You keep saying that after the fact.”
Paul lowered his eyes.
Thomas’s voice became quieter.
“You didn’t forge my name.”
Paul nodded.
“You didn’t create the email.”
Another nod.
“But you spent years making it possible for Mom to do whatever she wanted because asking questions was harder than living with the answers.”
Paul’s mouth tightened.
Thomas looked toward the hallway.
“I did the same thing.”
Claire watched him.
That was the first time he had said it without turning the sentence into punishment.
Paul sat down again.
“I’m sorry.”
Thomas did not tell him it was fine.
He did not tell him he forgave him.
He just nodded.
Three days later, Claire filed a police report about the assault.
The officer who took her statement spoke gently but without surprise.
Claire disliked how ordinary that made everything feel.
She submitted the photograph of her cheek, the medical note from the urgent care clinic, and the messages Marie had sent afterward.
Thomas gave a separate statement about the suspected identity fraud after Daniel advised him to preserve every account and dispute each one through formal channels.
May you like
Nothing happened instantly.
That frustrated Thomas more than anything.
