“I found the documents,” I said, my voice cutting through his rage with a calm I didn’t feel. “In the basement. The trust agreement. The bank statements. I know about the three hundred twenty-five thousand dollars Reed Lawson left for my education. I know you’ve been stealing from it since I was four years old.”
The kitchen went completely silent except for the hum of the refrigerator and Knox’s sharp intake of breath.
Lester’s face twisted into something ugly. He reached into his wallet, pulled out a ten-dollar bill, and threw it on the table so hard it slid across the surface and hit my water glass.
“There,” he snarled. “That’s all you’re worth to this family. That’s all you’ve ever been worth. Get out. I’m done paying for someone else’s mistake.”
The words should have destroyed me. Instead, I felt something cold and clear settle in my chest.
I picked up the ten-dollar bill, folded it carefully, and slipped it into my pocket. Then I reached into my backpack and pulled out the envelope I’d been carrying for three weeks.
“Before I go,” I said quietly, “I thought you should have this.”
I slid the envelope across the table. Lester stared at it like it might bite him.
“What is it?” Vicki asked, her voice thin.
“Copies,” I said. “Of everything I found. The trust agreement. The bank statements. The DNA test proving Reed Lawson was my father. And a letter explaining exactly what you’ve done. I’m filing a complaint with the court today. My lawyer will be in touch.”
“Your lawyer?” Lester’s laugh was harsh. “You’re sixteen years old. You don’t have a lawyer.”
“Actually, I do,” I said. “Holly Brennan. She handled my mother’s estate, and she’s been waiting fifteen years for someone to question where my trust money went.”
I stood up, my legs steadier than I expected. “I’m leaving now. Not because you told me to, but because staying in this house one more day would make me as much of a liar as you are.”
I walked toward the front door, my backpack over my shoulder, everything I cared about already packed in a bag I’d hidden at the library. Behind me, I heard Vicki saying something in a panic, heard Knox asking what the hell was happening, heard Lester’s heavy footsteps following me.
“You walk out that door, you’re on your own,” Lester shouted. “Don’t come crawling back when you realize how good you had it here.”
I opened the door and stepped onto the porch. The October air was cold and sharp, smelling like fallen leaves and the first hint of winter.
That’s when I saw the car.
A black SUV sat at the curb, engine running, exhaust curling in the cold air. As I stood there, backpack in hand, the driver’s door opened and a man stepped out.
He was tall, maybe fifty, with dark hair graying at the temples and eyes the same shade of brown as mine. He wore a charcoal coat and moved with the careful purpose of someone who’d driven a long way and wasn’t sure of his welcome.
“Charity?” he said, his voice uncertain.
I stared at him, my brain trying to process what I was seeing. Behind me, I heard Lester step onto the porch.
“Who the hell are you?” Lester demanded.
The man’s eyes moved past me to Lester, and something in his expression hardened.
“My name is Reed Lawson,” he said. “I’m Charity’s uncle. Her father was my half-brother. And I’m here to take her home.”
The silence that followed was broken only by the sound of the wind and Vicki’s gasp from inside the house.
“You’re supposed to be dead,” Lester said stupidly.
“You’re thinking of my brother,” Reed said. “Easy mistake. We had different last names, different mothers. But we were close, and when he died, I made sure his daughter’s trust was properly established and protected. Or I thought I did.” His jaw tightened. “Imagine my surprise when Holly Brennan called me three days ago to tell me the trustee had been embezzling for fifteen years.”
He looked at me, and his expression softened. “I’m sorry I didn’t come sooner, Charity. I should have checked in, should have made sure you were okay. I failed you, and I’m sorry.”
“You didn’t know,” I said, my voice breaking slightly. “How could you have known?”
“I should have made it my business to know,” he said. Then he turned back to Lester. “You have two choices. You can cooperate with the court investigation and hopefully avoid criminal charges, or you can make this difficult and spend the next several years explaining to a judge exactly where three hundred thousand dollars went. Either way, Charity’s coming with me, and you’ll never control another dollar of her money again.”
“You can’t just take her,” Lester sputtered. “I’m her legal guardian—”
“Not for long,” Reed said quietly. “Holly’s filing emergency paperwork this afternoon. By Monday, you’ll be removed as both trustee and guardian. The question is whether you go quietly or whether this becomes a criminal matter.”
He looked at me again. “Charity, you don’t have to come with me if you don’t want to. Holly can help you find a safe place, a foster situation, whatever you need. I’m offering because you’re family, and I owe your father that much. But this is your choice.”
I looked at Reed Lawson—this stranger who shared my blood and my father’s name, who’d driven from wherever he lived to stand on this porch and offer me a way out. Then I looked back at Lester, whose face was mottled red and white with rage and fear.
“I choose him,” I said.
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