Chapter 6 - SIX HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS
Robert’s attorney arrived before dessert.
Daniel Mercer had represented the Hayes family for seventeen years.
He had never worn jeans inside Robert’s home.
Until Christmas afternoon.
“That’s how serious this is?” Robert asked.
Daniel looked down at himself.
“My wife threatened divorce if I wore a suit today.”
Under different circumstances, Robert might have laughed.
Instead, he pushed the trust statements across the table.
Daniel sat.
Eleanor joined them.
Ben and Madison were upstairs building a model rocket Mrs. Alvarez had found in a closet.
Robert was grateful for the distance.
“Tell me there’s an innocent explanation.”
Daniel reviewed the documents.
“I can’t.”
“Could the bank have made an error?”
“Not six times.”
Six withdrawals.
$50,000.
$80,000.
$125,000.
$90,000.
$200,000.
$48,000.
Total:
$593,000.
Robert looked at his mother.
“You gave Natalie access?”
“You did.”
He frowned.
Eleanor reminded him.
“June. Before Europe.”
Memory returned.
Robert had been preparing a three-month stretch of travel.
Ben’s trust occasionally paid specialized school tuition, camps, medical expenses, and charitable commitments established by Laura’s parents.
Natalie had offered to manage paperwork.
Robert had signed an authorization.
He had barely read it.
Another convenience.
Another door opened because he did not want to stop moving long enough to handle his own family.
Daniel looked at the transaction notes.
“These are labeled educational expenses.”
Robert pointed.
“That one went to a furniture company.”
Daniel nodded.
“And that one to a luxury travel agency.”
Eleanor’s expression hardened.
“Educational?”
Daniel kept reading.
“The receiving accounts appear to be intermediary business accounts.”
“Meaning?”
“Meaning we need forensic accounting.”
Robert stood.
“Call the bank. Freeze her access.”
“Already doing it.”
“Call the police.”
Daniel looked up.
“Robert.”
“She stole from my son.”
“Possibly.”
“What does ‘possibly’ mean?”
“It means this is Christmas Day, we have incomplete statements, and the person you’re accusing had authorized access.”
“To pay for Ben.”
“Yes.”
“Not herself.”
“Correct.”
“Then what is unclear?”
“Intent. Documentation. Destination.”
Robert hated legal caution.
Daniel continued.
“If the money was transferred under false pretenses, that matters. But before you turn this into a criminal complaint, understand who gets pulled into it.”
Robert knew.
“Madison.”
“Yes.”
Robert sat again.
Eleanor said quietly:
“Accountability doesn’t require revenge.”
Robert looked at her.
“I know.”
But did he?
Twenty-four hours earlier, he had wanted Natalie out of his house.
Now he wanted consequences.
He needed to make sure those were not the same impulse wearing different clothes.
Daniel closed the folder.
“There’s something else.”
Robert laughed bitterly.
“Of course there is.”
“The funds did not go directly to Natalie.”
“Who?”
“A company called Northline Family Services.”
Robert frowned.
“What is that?”
“I don’t know yet.”
Daniel turned his laptop.
“Formed eight months ago. Delaware LLC.”
“Owner?”
“Another LLC.”
“Helpful.”
“I’m working on it.”
Eleanor leaned in.
“What kind of company?”
“According to public filings, educational placement and family consulting.”
Robert immediately thought of the boarding school.
“Could Natalie have hired consultants?”
“Yes.”
“For six hundred thousand dollars?”
“No.”
His phone rang.
Natalie.
Robert let it go.
Then a text arrived.
Please answer. This isn’t what you think.
Daniel saw the screen.
“Don’t discuss money with her yet.”
Robert looked at him.
“You’re telling me to pretend?”
“I’m telling you not to announce exactly what evidence you have.”
Robert hated that too.
Another text.
I can explain the trust.
Robert showed Daniel.
The attorney’s eyebrows rose.
“Well. She knows.”
Robert called.
Natalie answered immediately.
“Thank God.”
“Explain.”
“Not over the phone.”
“Then come here.”
Daniel shook his head sharply.
Natalie said:
“I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
“Neither is taking six hundred thousand dollars from my son.”
“I did not take it.”
“Then who did?”
Silence.
“Natalie.”
She whispered:
“My brother.”
Robert sat.
He had met Eric Walker twice.
A charming thirty-eight-year-old entrepreneur who always seemed to be launching something.
Restaurants.
Wellness startups.
Real estate.
Nothing Robert had paid attention to.
“What does your brother have to do with Ben’s trust?”
“Northline is his.”
Daniel began typing.
Robert’s voice hardened.
“Why was Ben’s money transferred to your brother?”
“It wasn’t supposed to be his money.”
“That sentence doesn’t make sense.”
“I was going to replace it.”
Robert closed his eyes.
Daniel wrote something on paper and pushed it over.
Let her talk.
Robert said nothing.
Natalie filled the silence.
“Eric was having cash-flow problems.”
“So you gave him Ben’s money.”
“I loaned him money.”
“Ben’s money.”
“He said it would be sixty days.”
“How much?”
Silence.
“All of it?”
“No.”
“How much, Natalie?”
“Five hundred.”
Robert stared at the wall.
“Five hundred thousand?”
“Yes.”
“And the rest?”
“School consulting.”
“For the boarding school?”
“Yes.”
“You spent almost one hundred thousand dollars trying to send my son away?”
“It included placement services and donations.”
“Donations?”
“The school has limited openings.”
Robert’s hand tightened around the phone.
Daniel shook his head, warning him.
Robert forced his voice steady.
“Did you forge my signature?”
“I used your electronic authorization.”
“That was not my question.”
“Yes.”
There it was.
Natalie began crying.
“I panicked.”
“When?”
“After the engagement.”
“About what?”
“Everything.”
Robert waited.
“Your world is expensive.”
He almost laughed.
“So you stole from a child?”
“I didn’t steal it!”
“You transferred money without permission.”
“I was going to return it.”
“With what?”
Natalie said nothing.
Robert understood.
“Eric promised you a return.”
“Thirty percent.”
Daniel closed his eyes.
Robert whispered:
“You invested my son’s trust in your brother’s failing company.”
“I thought it was temporary.”
“And when it wasn’t?”
Another silence.
Robert saw the timeline.
October.
The pressure on Ben intensified.
November.
His pictures disappeared.
December.
Boarding-school application.
The money needed to look like educational expenses.
If Ben attended the school, perhaps the withdrawals would become easier to disguise.
“Was boarding school about the money?”
“No.”
Robert said nothing.
Natalie cried harder.
“No. Robert, I swear.”
“Then why?”
“I thought if Ben wasn’t in the house, everything would calm down.”
“For you.”
“Yes!”
The honesty shocked him.
“Yes, okay? For me.”
Her voice broke.
“I was drowning.”
Robert looked toward the ceiling.
Somewhere upstairs, children were laughing.
“You should have told me.”
“You were never here!”
The accusation rang through the phone.
“I tried talking to you.”
“When?”
“Do you really want dates?”
Robert froze.
Suddenly he was the one being confronted with missed calls.
Natalie continued.
“I told you Ben and I were struggling.”
“You told me he was difficult.”
“Because you never stayed on the phone long enough to hear anything else!”
Daniel looked away.
Robert swallowed.
Natalie was responsible for what she did.
But Robert could feel the dangerous temptation to make her entirely evil.
Because then he could remain entirely innocent.
He wasn’t.
“You still had choices.”
“Yes.”
Natalie’s voice became quieter.
“And I made terrible ones.”
For the first time since she left, she sounded less defensive.
“I hated Laura.”
Robert closed his eyes.
“I know.”
“No. You don’t.”
She breathed shakily.
“I hated how loved she was.”
Robert stayed silent.
“Your mother loved her.”
“Ben loved her.”
“Your staff loved her.”
“You loved her.”
Natalie laughed through tears.
“And she was dead, which meant she could never disappoint anybody again.”
Robert looked at Laura’s photograph on his desk.
Natalie continued.
“Every time I made a mistake, I imagined everyone thinking Laura wouldn’t have.”
“Nobody said that.”
“I said it.”
There was the truth.
Robert spoke softly.
“You were competing with someone who wasn’t competing with you.”
“Yes.”
“And you made Ben pay for it.”
Silence.
“Yes.”
Robert’s anger remained.
But now grief joined it.
“What about the money?”
Natalie inhaled.
“Eric lost most of it.”
“How much is left?”
“I don’t know.”
“Where is he?”
“I don’t know.”
Robert looked at Daniel.
The attorney typed quickly.
Natalie continued.
“He stopped returning my calls three days ago.”
“You understand I’m going to report this.”
“Yes.”
“And the forged application.”
“Yes.”
“And I’m removing you from every account.”
“Yes.”
Her acceptance unsettled him.
Then she said:
“But please don’t let Madison hear it from strangers.”
Robert closed his eyes.
“She deserves better than that.”
“Yes.”
“And Ben deserved better too.”
“I know.”
Robert almost told her that knowing now did not repair then.
Instead:
“You need a lawyer.”
“I know.”
He ended the call.
Daniel looked up.
“That was useful.”
Robert stared at the dead phone.
“That was my fiancée.”
“Was.”
Robert looked at his ringless hand.
He had not even realized he had removed the engagement symbol psychologically before physically.
Daniel asked:
“Do you want me to contact law enforcement?”
Robert thought of Madison.
Then Ben.
Then Laura’s letter.
Love him by being there inside it.
“Yes.”
Daniel nodded.
“But.”
Robert continued.
“I want recovery prioritized over punishment where legally possible.”
Eleanor studied him.
Daniel said:
“That decision may not entirely be yours.”
“I understand.”
“And Natalie may still face charges.”
“I understand.”
Robert looked toward the stairs.
“I just don’t want my anger to become another thing these children have to survive.”
Eleanor’s face softened.
An hour later, Ben came downstairs holding the unfinished model rocket.
“Dad?”
“Yeah?”
“Madison wants to call her mom.”
Robert nodded.
“Of course.”
Ben hesitated.
“Are you going to say no?”
“No.”
“She thinks you hate her mom.”
Robert rubbed his face.
“I don’t hate her.”
Ben looked skeptical.
“You’re really mad.”
“Yes.”
“Isn’t that the same?”
“No.”
Robert thought carefully.
“You can be angry at what someone did without wanting them to stop being a person.”
Ben frowned.
“That sounds complicated.”
“It is.”
Ben looked toward the kitchen.
“Mom used to get mad at you.”
Robert smiled faintly.
“Frequently.”
“Did she hate you?”
“No.”
“How do you know?”
“Because she usually made me dinner while she was mad.”
Ben considered that.
“Can we make dinner?”
Robert glanced at the clock.
“You’re hungry?”
“No.”
“For Natalie.”
Robert stared.
Ben shrugged.
“She’s probably alone.”
For several seconds, Robert could not speak.
“She hurt you.”
“I know.”
“And you still want to send her food?”
Ben looked confused.
“She still has to eat.”
There are moments when adults realize children understand morality more clearly because they have not yet learned how useful cruelty can feel.
Robert stood.
“What should we make?”
“Mom’s lasagna.”
Robert laughed.
“That seems dangerous.”
“Why?”
“I can’t cook.”
Ben smiled.
“Mrs. Alvarez can.”
From the kitchen came her voice.
“I heard that.”
Two hours later, a driver delivered lasagna to Natalie’s apartment.
No note from Robert.
Ben included one.
Merry Christmas. Madison is okay. I hope you are too.
That night, Robert checked on his son.
Ben was asleep.
His stocking hung above the fireplace downstairs.
Not replaced.
Not upgraded.
Not made to match.
Robert stood beside it for a long time.
Then his phone rang.
Daniel.
“We found Eric.”
“Where?”
“Airport security flagged him at JFK.”
Robert exhaled.
“Leaving?”
“Flight to Switzerland.”
“With the money?”
“Possibly some of it.”
“How much?”
“At least two hundred thousand appears to have moved into a foreign account this morning.”
Robert’s jaw tightened.
Daniel continued.
“There’s another issue.”
“Of course.”
“Eric is claiming Natalie had your permission.”
Robert looked toward the stairs.
“He’s lying.”
“Probably.”
“Probably?”
“He has emails.”
“What emails?”
Daniel paused.
“Messages from Natalie saying you knew about the transfers.”
“That proves nothing.”
“No.”
“Then?”
“One of the emails was sent from your personal account.”
Robert went still.
“When?”
“November ninth.”
Robert remembered that date.
He had been in Singapore.
Natalie knew his passwords.
His assistant knew some.
His phone often sat unattended in hotel suites.
Daniel’s voice lowered.
“Robert, we need to determine how much access Natalie actually had to your financial identity.”
Robert looked around his house.
For the first time, the threat no longer felt limited to Ben’s stocking.
Someone had not only tried to erase his son from his home.
May you like
They had begun using Robert’s own name to do it.
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