Chapter 13
I stared at my father.
“You knew Ryan’s father?”
“Yes.”
“How well?”
“Well enough to regret it.”
I felt betrayed all over again.
“You never told me.”
“Neither did Ryan?”
“No.”
Dad stood in my townhouse kitchen looking older than I had ever seen him.
“Frank and I started a real estate company together when we were in our twenties.”
“What happened?”
“He cheated investors.”
My stomach tightened.
“Did you know?”
“Not at first.”
“And when you found out?”
“I reported him.”
I stared.
“Ryan’s father?”
“Yes.”
“What happened?”
“He avoided prison through a plea agreement, paid restitution, and lost nearly everything.”
I suddenly understood.
“That’s why Ryan hated you.”
“I assume it contributed.”
“Assume?”
“Ryan claimed for years that I destroyed his father.”
My mind raced backward.
Ryan always said Dad looked down on his family.
He never explained why.
“Why didn’t you tell me before I married him?”
Dad looked miserable.
“I didn’t know Ryan was Frank’s son until after you introduced us.”
“And then?”
“You loved him.”
“That isn’t an answer.”
“I told you I distrusted his character.”
“You told me he was opportunistic.”
“He was.”
“You never told me our families had history.”
Dad rubbed his face.
“I thought if I told you, you would think I was judging him for his father’s mistakes.”
I laughed without humor.
“So you decided for me.”
“Yes.”
“And Ryan used that.”
“Yes.”
Everything Ryan had said about Dad suddenly sounded different.
Your father ruined people.
Your father thinks money makes him God.
Your father destroyed my family once.
I had thought Ryan was speaking emotionally.
He was speaking historically.
“Did Frank know you were my father when Ryan and I met?”
“Almost certainly.”
“Did Ryan?”
“I don’t know when he learned.”
That question became urgent.
Because if Ryan knew from the beginning, then our entire marriage looked different.
Nora arrived within an hour.
Detective Ruiz joined us by phone.
Dad gave a full account.
Frank Mercer had been charismatic.
Ambitious.
Reckless.
He moved investor money without authorization.
Dad discovered it and contacted attorneys, then regulators.
Frank later told friends Charles had betrayed him.
Years after the company collapsed, Frank died from heart disease.
Ryan had been twenty-six.
I met Ryan two years later.
“Could Ryan have married Emily for revenge?” Nora asked.
Dad’s face tightened.
“I don’t know.”
I felt sick.
I did not want that question inside my head.
Not yet.
Maybe never.
Detective Ruiz asked about the anonymous call.
“Who knew the phrase ‘old debt’?”
Dad thought.
“Frank used it once.”
“When?”
“After the investigation. He told me every debt eventually gets collected.”
Silence.
“Did Ryan know?”
“I have no idea.”
The call could not be conclusively linked to Ryan.
But the timing mattered.
Then school security called.
Ryan had appeared in the parking lot.
My heart stopped.
“Is Lily safe?”
“Yes.”
I was already reaching for my keys.
“Where is he?”
“Security stopped him near the entrance.”
I drove with Thomas following.
Police arrived first.
Ryan stood beside his car.
He looked furious.
His attorney was on speakerphone.
“This is my daughter’s school!”
One officer responded.
“You are prohibited from contact.”
“I came to drop off a medical form.”
“You have attorneys for that.”
“I forgot it was in my car.”
I got out twenty yards away.
Ryan saw me.
His anger vanished.
He smiled.
That smile frightened me more.
“Emily.”
The officer stepped between us.
“Do not approach her.”
Ryan lifted his hands.
“I’m leaving.”
Then he looked at me.
“Tell your father he can’t bury the past forever.”
My stomach tightened.
“You need to leave,” the officer repeated.
Ryan walked toward his car.
Before he got inside, he called out.
“You should ask him who really stole the money back then.”
Dad’s old business scandal.
Another accusation.
Another seed.
That was Ryan’s specialty.
He never needed to prove something immediately.
He only needed to make me doubt.
Police documented the incident.
Prosecutors moved to revoke his bond based on repeated violations.
His attorney argued he had not intended contact.
The judge disagreed.
Ryan was taken into custody pending another hearing.
For the first time since I left, I slept through the night.
The next morning, I searched old newspaper archives about Dad and Frank.
I did it alone.
I needed facts that did not come from either man.
The articles confirmed most of Dad’s story.
Frank Mercer had pleaded guilty to financial misconduct.
Charles had cooperated with investigators.
But one detail surprised me.
A third partner had existed.
Samuel Cole.
Cole.
Jenna’s last name.
I called Nora.
“Does Jenna know anything about her family being connected to Dad?”
Nora paused.
“I’ll ask her attorney.”
Two hours later, Jenna called.
“You found out.”
“You knew?”
“My grandfather was Samuel Cole.”
I sat down.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because when Ryan hired me, I didn’t know either.”
“What happened?”
“He told me after a year.”
“Why?”
“He said our families had been betrayed by the same man.”
My chest tightened.
“My father.”
“Yes.”
“Did you believe him?”
“For a while.”
“Is that why you helped him?”
Silence.
“Partly.”
I closed my eyes.
“So Ryan specifically hired you because of your grandfather.”
“I think so.”
“How many people has he pulled into this?”
“I don’t know.”
Then Jenna said something that made everything colder.
“Emily, Ryan kept a list.”
“What list?”
“People whose families had lost money or reputations after your father cooperated with investigators.”
“Why?”
“He called them pressure points.”
I swallowed.
“Do you still have it?”
“No.”
“Where is it?”
“It was in a red folder.”
My mind flashed to the storage unit.
No red folder had been mentioned.
Jenna continued.
“The last time I saw it, Ryan gave it to someone.”
“Who?”
She hesitated.
“His mother.”
Diane.
I called Mark.
He answered immediately.
“Is your mother home?”
“Yes.”
“Do not tell her I’m coming.”
“What happened?”
“I think Diane has something Ryan wants.”
Nora told me not to confront her alone.
We arranged to meet with Mark present.
When Diane opened her door and saw us, her face fell.
“What now?”
I stepped inside.
“Where is the red folder?”
Her reaction answered before her mouth did.
“What folder?”
“Ryan gave you one.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Mark stared at her.
“Mom.”
She looked at him.
“Don’t.”
“Where is it?”
Her eyes filled with tears.
“I promised him.”
Mark’s face hardened.
“You promised him when?”
“Months ago.”
“What did he say it was?”
“Insurance.”
My skin turned cold.
“Against who?”
May you like
Diane looked at me.
“Your father.”
