Page 155 of Theirs to Tempt: The Marriage Claim

Then she follows up. We’ll put it back before anyone knows.

For several seconds, I can’t move.

My mother.

The woman who drilled honesty into me. Who returned money when a cashier gave her too much change.

She didn’t just look the other way while Dad crossed a line. She told him to do it.

Lucian tightens his grip. “You didn’t know.”

Does that change anything?

Reluctantly I turn back to the screen.

There are more emails, more bills, all about me. In each, Dad is worried about where the money will come from. And Mom is just as firm. We need to take care of her.

Tears burn my eyes. My mom didn’t want diamonds or vacations. She wanted me to have the best possible life.

And because I study financial behavior for a living, I understand exactly how someone gets there. One exception. A single justification. A vow that things will be corrected before anyone is hurt.

A folder marked PERSONAL contains years of records between my parents.

But the further I go, the less straightforward they become.

Payments leave one account and appear in another. Funds move through one of Dad’s companies, then another, sometimes on the same day.

Money earmarked for an obligation disappears days before it’s due and reappears after some other deposit lands.

I recognize the pattern immediately.

Robbing Peter to pay Paul.

Except Peter and Paul are corporations, loans, reserves, and creditors.

And my mother knew.

Not everything.

I can see that too.

Some emails contain questions.

Why did this move?

I thought that account was restricted.

Dad’s answers are always reassuring.

It’s temporary, Liz.

I’ve got it covered.

Then, eventually, Mom stops asking so many questions.

That hurts more than if she never asked at all.

Because I know exactly what happened.