Chapter 12 - They Stole From My Baby Too
The signature on Sophie’s account was better than the others.
Good enough that for three seconds I wondered if I had signed something while exhausted and forgotten.
Then Daniel pointed to the date.
I had been in the hospital that day with premature contractions.
The admission record proved it.
Someone had opened a bank account in my unborn daughter’s name while I was lying under fluorescent lights trying not to lose her.
Grandma sat down hard.
“How much?” she asked.
Priya answered, “Twenty-five thousand went in. Twenty-three thousand came out.”
“From where did the deposit come?”
“Evelyn’s investment account.”
Grandma shook her head. “I did not authorize that.”
Now the fraud was no longer only mine.
It touched Grandma directly.
And Sophie.
Police expanded the investigation.
Dad finally called me.
His voice sounded older than I remembered.
“Meet me alone.”
“No.”
“Emily, I can explain.”
“Explain to Daniel.”
“I won’t talk in front of lawyers.”
“Then you don’t want to explain. You want to control the conversation.”
He breathed out slowly.
“Your mother started this.”
“What?”
“She said the transfers were meant for the family. She said Evelyn was manipulating you.”
“And you believed stealing my identity was the solution?”
“I didn’t know about every document.”
“But you took the money.”
“Dad?”
“I was trying to save the company.”
“How much did Ryan know?” I asked.
“All of it.”
“From when?”
“Before the wedding.”
Dad continued in a rush. “Ryan knew Linda was creating the account. He said he could keep you from asking questions. He said it was better if you thought Evelyn disapproved of him.”
Ryan telling me Grandma was controlling.
Mom saying Grandma looked down on him.
“Why are you telling me now?”
Dad’s answer came quietly.
“Because your mother is planning to blame everything on me.”
Then Dad said one more thing.
“And because Ryan took something from my safe last night.”
“What?”
“A second passport.”
May you like
“Whose passport?”
Dad whispered, “Sophie’s.”
