Chapter 9: What She Used
I read the message twice.
"She's trying to pull you away from David," Ethan said.
"I know."
"Whatever she wants to say about your father — she wants to say it to you, not on the record."
"I know that too." I set the phone down.
"But if it's actually about Dad, I need to hear it."
"Emily —"
"If she has something on him.
Something worse than what he already told me.
I need to know before David does." I looked at Ethan.
"Because if there's something I don't know, she'll use it.
She'll use it to make him look worse than her, to shift the focus, to make this into something messier than it is."
He didn't argue.
He knew I was right.
I texted back: *You can say it here.
Ethan will be present.*
Her reply came in under a minute.
*Fine.*
She arrived thirty minutes later.
This time she knocked.
I opened the door.
She looked like she hadn't slept — not disheveled, Diane was never disheveled, but the careful composure she'd worn yesterday was thinner now.
She came in and sat at the kitchen table without being invited to.
Ethan stood near the counter.
I sat across from her.
"My attorney told me you declined the release," she said.
"That's correct."
"Emily, that's not wise."
"What did you want to tell me about Dad?"
She looked at Ethan.
He didn't move.
"Your father," she said, "has not been entirely honest with you either."
"Go on."
"The money I borrowed from Helen's account —" She paused on the word *borrowed*, and I let it go for now.
"I didn't spend it.
Not the way you're imagining.
It went into a joint account.
An account your father has full access to.
An account he has been drawing from for the past three years."
I kept my face still.
"What was it used for?"
"His business.
You know he had the landscaping company.
You know it struggled after COVID." She folded her hands on the table.
"We used approximately forty thousand of it to cover payroll and equipment over eighteen months.
Your father knew exactly where the money came from.
He signed off on every transfer."
"You're saying he was a willing participant."
"I'm saying it was a joint decision.
And if you pursue this, Emily, he doesn't come out clean.
He comes out as someone who knowingly benefited from estate funds that weren't his." She met my eyes.
"I'm not threatening you.
I'm telling you the truth.
Because I think you deserve to know what you're actually walking into."
The kitchen was very quiet.
"Why are you telling me this now?" I asked.
"Because I would rather you hear it from me than have it come out in a legal process and blindside you."
"Or because you want me to think twice before I make this official."
She didn't deny that either.
I stood up.
"Diane, I'm going to tell you something, and I need you to hear it clearly." I kept my voice even.
"I already know Dad was involved.
He told me himself, on that call.
He told me he knew where the money came from and that he didn't stop it.
I'm not surprised by what you just said.
And it doesn't change what I'm doing."
Something moved across her face — she'd expected this to land harder.
"David already has the voicemail," I said.
"He already knows Dad's role.
We've discussed it.
Whatever comes of that is between Dad and the legal process.
That's not my decision to make." I moved toward the door.
"What is my decision is whether Lily gets the money her great-grandmother left her.
And she will."
Diane stood slowly.
"You're going to destroy this family."
"This family was not destroyed by what I'm doing today."
She picked up her bag.
At the door, she turned.
"I loved your grandmother," she said.
"Whatever you think of me."
"I believe you," I said.
"I think you loved her and took her money anyway.
Those two things can both be true."
She left without answering.
I closed the door and stood with my hand on the handle for a moment.
Ethan was behind me.
"You okay?"
"Call David," I said.
"Tell him what she just said about Dad.
He needs to know she's going to try to use it."
"Already on it." He had his phone to his ear.
I walked to Lily's room.
She was at her small desk, drawing.
She looked up when I came in.
"Is the loud lady gone?" she asked.
"Yes, baby.
She's gone."
Lily nodded and went back to her drawing.
I sat on the edge of her bed and watched her for a moment.
She was drawing a house.
Yellow door again.
Same flowers.
"Is that our new house?" I asked.
"Mm-hm." She added a tree.
"Can we go see it again soon?"
"Very soon," I said.
"We're moving in after New Year's."
She looked up.
"For real?"
"For real."
She smiled — the wide, uncomplicated smile she had before she'd learned to read rooms — and went back to her drawing.
May you like
I stayed until Ethan appeared in the doorway and gave me a small nod.
David had what he needed.
