Chapter 6 — The Mother Who Wanted Control
Chapter 6 — The Mother Who Wanted Control
By the time we reached the car, I had already made up my mind.
We weren't going home.
We were going to find Mason.
Amy buckled herself in and looked at me.
"Where do we start?"
I started the engine.
"His apartment."
"You think he'll be there?"
"No."
She frowned.
"Then why go?"
"Because if Mason is afraid of Daniel, he won't run to the police."
"Where will he run?"
I looked at her.
"To the person he thinks can protect him."
"Your mother."
I nodded.
And suddenly, the pieces began fitting together.
Teresa had controlled Mason for years.
Money.
Promises.
Fear.
She had convinced him that if he helped her control my assets, he'd eventually become the man who controlled them.
But Daniel had been standing behind both of them.
Which meant Teresa might not have been the mastermind.
She might have been another piece on the board.
And if that was true, then there was only one person who could tell us how far the plan went.
My mother.
We found Teresa at her lawyer's office.
She was sitting in the waiting room as if nothing had happened.
Perfect hair.
Perfect clothes.
Perfect posture.
When she saw me, she didn't look surprised.
She looked disappointed.
"I knew you'd come."
I stopped several feet away.
"Where's Mason?"
Her eyes narrowed.
"Why?"
"Because he knows what happened to Dad."
For the first time, her expression cracked.
Only slightly.
But I saw it.
Amy stood beside me.
Teresa looked at her.
"This is your fault."
Amy said nothing.
Teresa continued.
"Before you came into Connor's life, he was loyal to his family."
I laughed.
"You mean obedient."
"I mean respectful."
"You mean controlled."
Her jaw tightened.
"You've poisoned him against me."
"No."
I stepped closer.
"You did that yourself."
She stared at me.
"You think you know everything now."
"I know you stole fifty-four thousand dollars."
"That money was for the family."
"I know you created a company using my name."
"I was protecting your future."
"I know you forged my signature."
Her silence was answer enough.
"And I know you tried to put my house into that company."
She finally stood.
"You don't understand what I was trying to do."
"Then explain."
"I was trying to save you."
"From what?"
She looked at Amy.
"From her."
Amy's face hardened.
"Why?"
Teresa ignored her.
"You were changing."
I stared at her.
"What does that mean?"
"You stopped listening to me."
"Because I married her?"
"Because you started choosing her."
I shook my head.
"You wanted me to choose you over my wife."
"I wanted you to remember who raised you."
"I remembered."
I looked at her.
"That's why I finally understood."
She stepped closer.
"I sacrificed everything for you."
"And then you sent my money to Mason."
"Because he was helping me."
"Helping you do what?"
She didn't answer.
"Take my house?"
Nothing.
"Control my bank accounts?"
Nothing.
"Get access to Dad's trust?"
Her eyes moved away.
That was the first time she looked afraid.
I lowered my voice.
"Where is Mason?"
"I don't know."
"You're lying."
She looked at me.
"He came to me last night."
My heart tightened.
"What did he say?"
"He was terrified."
"Of Daniel?"
She nodded.
"What happened?"
"He said Daniel wanted the account emptied."
I froze.
"The $780,000?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
"I don't know."
I stepped closer.
"Mom."
She looked at me.
"What aren't you telling me?"
Her eyes filled with tears.
For the first time in my life, Teresa looked old.
Not powerful.
Not controlling.
Just tired.
"I didn't start this," she whispered.
"Then who did?"
She looked toward the door.
"Your father."
I stared at her.
"What?"
"He started it."
Amy looked at me.
Teresa sat down again.
"I knew about the money."
"What money?"
"Your father's hidden accounts."
"The trust?"
"No."
She shook her head.
"Something before that."
I sat across from her.
"Tell me."
She hesitated.
"Your father was moving money through construction contracts."
My stomach tightened.
"Why?"
"He said it was protection."
"Protection from whom?"
She looked at me.
"People your father had trusted."
I remembered Daniel's words.
Your father knew.
"Did Dad know about Daniel?"
"Yes."
"Did he know about Mason?"
"Yes."
"Did he know you were taking money?"
She looked down.
"Eventually."
"How much?"
"Not much at first."
I stared at her.
"How much?"
She whispered:
"Two thousand dollars."
I almost laughed.
"Two thousand?"
"Years ago."
"And it became fifty-four thousand."
She didn't answer.
I leaned back.
"So you started stealing because you thought you deserved it."
"No."
"Then why?"
Her voice broke.
"Because your father was going to leave me."
The room went silent.
I stared at her.
"What?"
"He had another life."
I frowned.
"What does that mean?"
"He had another account."
"With another woman?"
She nodded.
I didn't know what to say.
My father had always been the strongest man I knew.
The man who taught me that loyalty was everything.
Now I was learning he had secrets too.
"Who was she?"
Teresa shook her head.
"I never knew her name."
"Then how do you know?"
"Because I found the payments."
"Where?"
"In his old records."
I looked at Amy.
Then back at Teresa.
"Did Dad kill himself?"
Her eyes widened.
"No."
"Then what happened?"
"I don't know."
"You expect me to believe that?"
"I know what I saw."
"What?"
"The night before he died, he told me to leave the house."
"Why?"
"He said people were coming."
"Who?"
"He wouldn't tell me."
I stared at her.
"Did Daniel come?"
She nodded.
"And Mason?"
"Yes."
My hands clenched.
"What happened after that?"
"I left."
"You left Dad alone?"
She started crying.
"I was afraid."
"For yourself?"
"Yes."
I stood.
"You left him."
"I was his wife."
"You left him."
She covered her face.
"I thought he was going to protect himself."
I looked at her.
"And the next morning?"
"He was dead."
I walked out of the office.
Amy followed.
We didn't speak until we reached the car.
Then she touched my arm.
"Connor."
I looked at her.
"Your mother may be telling the truth."
"About what?"
"About being afraid."
I shook my head.
"She still lied to me."
"Yes."
"But she may not have known everything."
I looked toward the office.
"Then we need to find out."
We returned home just before sunset.
There was a package waiting on the porch.
No return address.
My name was handwritten across the front.
I opened it carefully.
Inside was a USB drive.
And a note.
Your mother wanted control. Daniel wanted the money. But neither one of them knew what your father left behind.
I looked at Amy.
She read the next line.
Mason does.
My phone rang.
Unknown number.
I answered.
Mason's voice came through.
"Connor."
"Where are you?"
"I can't tell you."
"Then tell me why you were moving money."
Silence.
"I didn't know what it was."
"You had $780,000."
"I was told to hold it."
"By Daniel?"
"By your mother."
"Why?"
"She said it was family money."
I closed my eyes.
"Where is it now?"
"I moved it."
"Where?"
"I can't tell you."
"Mason."
"I need you to understand something."
"What?"
"I didn't betray you because I hated you."
"Then why?"
"Because I was scared."
"Of Daniel?"
"Of everyone."
He took a breath.
"Your father knew I had taken money."
My heart stopped.
"What?"
"He confronted me."
"When?"
"Three days before he died."
"What did he say?"
"He told me to give everything back."
"Did you?"
"No."
"Why?"
"Because Daniel threatened my family."
I gripped the phone.
"Where is the money?"
"I'll tell you."
"When?"
"Tonight."
"Where?"
Mason gave me an address.
An abandoned church on the north side.
"Come alone."
"No."
"Connor—"
"I'm not coming alone."
"You have to."
"I won't."
Silence.
Then Mason whispered:
"Then bring your wife."
Amy looked at me.
"Why?"
"Because Daniel doesn't know about her."
The call ended.
I stared at Amy.
She looked frightened.
"What did he mean?"
"I don't know."
Then I looked at the USB drive on the table.
"I think we're about to find out."
I inserted the drive into my computer.
One video appeared.
My father's face filled the screen.
He looked directly at the camera.
But this recording was different from the one at the warehouse.
He looked frightened.
"Connor, if this reaches you, your mother has probably already tried to control the trust."
My heart stopped.
He continued.
"She will tell you she did it to protect you."
A pause.
"She will believe that."
I swallowed.
"But the person you need to fear isn't Teresa."
The screen flickered.
My father's voice dropped.
"It's Daniel."
Amy leaned closer.
My father continued.
"Daniel has been using our family for years."
The video ended abruptly.
No explanation.
No conclusion.
Just one final frame.
A photograph.
My father.
Daniel.
Mason.
And a fourth person.
A woman.
Amy stared at the screen.
"Who is she?"
I didn't know.
Then I zoomed in.
The woman was standing beside my father.
Her face looked familiar.
Very familiar.
Amy suddenly whispered:
"Connor."
"What?"
"I've seen her."
"Where?"
She pointed at the screen.
"At your mother's house."
My stomach dropped.
"When?"
"On an old photograph in the hallway."
I stared at the woman.
Then I understood.
She wasn't a stranger.
She had been part of our family story for years.
And Teresa had deliberately erased her.
I turned toward Amy.
"Tomorrow we find that photograph."
She nodded.
But before either of us could move, my phone buzzed.
A message from Mason.
Don't come to the church.
Another message arrived.
Daniel found me.
Then a final one.
If I don't make it through tonight, look inside your mother's piano.
I stared at the screen.
The piano.
The one Teresa had refused to let anyone touch since my father's death.
Suddenly, the house felt very different.
Because for years, my mother hadn't been protecting that piano from us.
She had been protecting what was hidden inside it.
And whatever was there was important enough to frighten a man who had already stolen nearly a million dollars.
I looked at Amy.
"We're going home."
She nodded.
Neither of us knew that Teresa was already inside the house.
May you like
And she was standing in front of the piano.
Waiting for us.
