Chapter 17 - KELSEY CHOOSES HERSELF
Kelsey agreed to testify before the grand jury.
Richard called her a liar.
Then he called her a thief.
Then he claimed she had manipulated him.
Kelsey responded by turning over every message he had sent her during the previous year.
There were hundreds.
Some were personal.
Most were financial.
One message became especially important.
Richard had written it four days after Daniel died.
Emily is too shattered to challenge anything right now.
We move fast.
Another said:
Get the house paperwork finished before the baby comes.
And another:
Once she signs the company proxy, everything is clean.
I read the messages in Margaret’s office.
My hands no longer shook.
That surprised me.
There was a time when every new betrayal hurt.
Now each one simply confirmed what I already knew.
Kelsey sat across from me.
“I’m sorry.”
I looked at her.
“For which part?”
Her eyes dropped.
“All of it.”
“The laughing?”
She flinched.
“Yes.”
“The deed?”
“Yes.”
“The guardianship plan?”
“I didn’t know about that.”
“But you knew about the house.”
“Yes.”
I nodded slowly.
“I don’t forgive you.”
Tears appeared in her eyes.
“I understand.”
“But I’m glad you told the truth.”
She looked surprised.
“That’s all?”
“What were you expecting?”
“I don’t know.”
I leaned back.
“I’m not my father.”
Kelsey started crying quietly.
For the first time, she looked twenty-four.
Not glamorous.
Not arrogant.
Young.
Foolish.
Terrified.
She whispered, “He said you hated me because you were jealous.”
I almost smiled.
“Kelsey, I was thirty-two, married to a man I loved, and pregnant with his child.”
I shook my head.
“I was never jealous.”
She looked embarrassed.
“He lied about everything.”
“Yes.”
“He said Daniel was trying to steal the company.”
“He lied.”
“He said you were going to cut him out.”
“I wasn’t.”
Her face crumpled.
“Until now.”
May you like
I nodded.
“Until now.”
