I swallow. “You’re right. We’re here for the truth.”
“We are,” he smiles. “Now let’s go show your father some.”
I squeeze his hand once, then push the door open.
Dad sees me approaching and stands slowly from the bench he sat on. His eyes are guarded. My stomach twists. Silas walks beside me, casual, hands in his jacket pockets, but I can feel the tension radiating off him.
“Penelope,” Dad says. “Thank you for coming.” His tone is too formal. Too careful. My pulse jumps.
“Hi, Dad.”
His gaze flicks over to Silas, and his jaw tightens.
“Silas.”
Silas nods politely. “Chad.”
Dad looks at me and blows out a breath. “Tell me everything.”
So I do.
I tell him about St. Helen’s. All the paperwork we found, the lies told to Talon and Minxy about their dad’s death. The payment to Jensen that Gideon uncovered.
Dad listens without interrupting, each piece carving deeper worry into his face.
“You’re sure,” he says softly.
“Yes. I saw some of it with my own eyes when I went to the dress fitting. When I pushed her about Minxy and the school;she got really nervous and upset. Started being extremely rude to me and then hurried into a fitting room where I spied on her as she texted someone about me being pushy and uncovering what Minxy knew. That Todd would lead to Dominic and that couldn’t happen.”
“And you have proof?”
“A lot of it.”
He swallows, then sits on the bench. His hands shake once before he clenches them together. “Can I see it?”
“Of course.” Silas pulls out his phone and holds it out to my dad. “I’ll airdrop it all to you so we both have copies.”
Dad pulls out his phone and holds it next to Silas’ until we hear the familiar beep of things being swapped between the devices. Silas pulls his hand back and slides his phone back in his jacket pocket. Dad stares at the phone and starts to read as more and more is downloaded onto his phone.
We idle in silence for a while until dad speaks.
“I didn’t see any of it,” he mumbles. “I thought she was…kind. I thought she cared about her kids and you.”
“She doesn’t,” I quip. “She cares about control and money.”
He nods. “She has been asking when I can add her name to the house and if I was going to change my will. I…I thought she was just being prepared,caring. I was so in love. I was blind.”
Silas glances to the side, a warning tone in his voice. “Someone’s coming.”
I turn.
Abi.
She strides down the path with the exact expression of a woman who came here to win. Her eyes are bright and glassy, her smile radiant but forced, and she looks like an unhinged stepford wife.
Dad stands on autopilot. “Abi? What are you doing here?”
“I came to fix this,” she says. Her gaze cuts to me. Razor sharp. “You’ve caused enough trouble.”
