Chapter 8: What Ruth Found
Ruth Adeyemi answered on the second ring.
She had a calm, direct voice, the kind that made you feel like the situation was already slightly more manageable than it had been thirty seconds ago.
"Daniel told me the outline," she said.
"But I want to hear it from you.
Take your time."
I told her everything.
The tuition.
The jobs.
The joint account.
The apartment.
The placement.
The recording.
The text message from the unknown number.
I read her the text word for word.
When I finished, she was quiet for a moment.
"The text message," she said.
"You still have it?"
"Yes.
Photographed and forwarded to Daniel."
"Good.
Don't delete it and don't respond to it.
If you receive another one, same procedure." A pause.
"The financial contribution to the hospital foundation — do you have any documentation of that, or is it currently only Mia's account?"
"Currently only Mia.
Daniel said she's willing to speak directly with me."
"I'd like to speak with her too, with your permission.
If we can get her account on record, and if there's any paper trail connecting the contribution to the placement timeline, that becomes significant leverage." Another pause.
"Not leverage in a threatening sense.
Leverage in the sense that it strongly incentivizes Nathan's side to settle quickly and fairly rather than drag this into a prolonged dispute."
"That's what I want," I said.
"A fair settlement.
Not a war."
"Then let's build the case for a fair settlement." I could hear her writing something.
"The joint account withdrawals — do you have access to the account records?"
"Online access, yes.
I can pull the full statement history tonight."
"Do that.
Screenshot everything and email it to me.
I'll send you my address now." A brief pause.
"One more thing.
The recording Daniel made in the courtyard — Nathan made a statement about you having nothing to prove any financial agreement existed.
That's actually useful.
It establishes that he was aware of the financial dimension and was attempting to minimize it.
Combined with the account records, that builds a picture."
"Will the recording hold up?"
"Daniel made it in a public space during a conversation Nathan chose to have publicly.
It's admissible in this state.
Yes."
I exhaled slowly.
"Get some sleep after you send me the statements," Ruth said.
"I'll review everything tonight and we'll talk at nine.
This is manageable.
I've seen much worse with far less documentation."
We hung up.
I pulled up the joint account online and started screenshotting.
The withdrawals went back further than I had expected.
Small amounts at first, then larger ones.
A pattern that, once I saw it laid out in full, was unmistakable.
I sent everything to Ruth and closed the laptop.
I made tea.
I sat at the kitchen table in the apartment I had furnished and painted and kept running for six years, and I drank it slowly.
My phone rang.
Unknown number.
The same one as the text.
I let it ring.
When it went to voicemail, no message was left.
I took another screenshot of the missed call and sent it to Daniel and to Ruth.
Ruth replied within two minutes.
*Good.
Keep logging everything.
I'll look into the number tomorrow.*
I finished my tea.
I washed the cup.
I went to bed.
I didn't sleep well, but I slept.
In the morning, Ruth called at five past nine.
"I've reviewed the statements," she said.
"There's something in here I want to ask you about.
A recurring transfer, once a month, for the last fourteen months.
To an account that isn't Nathan's tuition provider and isn't any of the household bills."
I sat up.
"I don't know what that is."
"I didn't think you would." Her voice was careful.
"The account it's going to is registered to a holding company.
It took me about an hour this morning to trace it." A pause.
"The holding company has one listed director.
Her name is Cassandra Voss."
The tea I had made was going cold on the nightstand.
"He was paying her," I said.
"Monthly.
For over a year.
May you like
From the account you both contributed to." Ruth let that land.
"That changes the settlement picture considerably."
