Chapter 12 - DAVID'S OFFER
David requested a meeting.
Not through me.
Through his lawyer.
He wanted to discuss a settlement in the divorce.
My attorney recommended we listen.
So we sat across from each other inside a secure conference room.
David looked thinner.
Older.
The tan was gone.
He stared at me for several seconds.
“You look tired.”
“So do you.”
He nodded.
“I heard about my parents.”
“I’m sure.”
“My father will blame me.”
“Should he?”
David rubbed his face.
“Maya, I didn’t create everything.”
There it was.
Not innocence.
Distribution of blame.
“What did you create?”
He looked at his lawyer.
The lawyer remained silent.
David continued.
“My father was the one who suggested using the trust.”
“And you said yes.”
“I thought it would be temporary.”
“You paid for a yacht.”
“That happened later.”
“You bought Julianne an engagement ring.”
His eyes dropped.
“I was going to replace the money.”
“With what?”
No answer.
“Your collapsing company?”
His jaw tightened.
I leaned forward.
“You weren’t borrowing from Lily.”
“You were stealing from a seven-year-old because you were too proud to admit you were failing.”
David looked away.
For once, he did not deny it.
Then he said, “I’ll give you everything.”
I almost laughed.
“Everything?”
“The house.”
“It’s already being sold.”
“The lake property.”
“Frozen.”
“My shares.”
“Potentially worthless.”
He closed his eyes.
“I’ll sign anything.”
“What do you want?”
His answer came immediately.
“Ask the prosecutor to go easy on my mother.”
I stared at him.
Of course.
Even now.
Always someone else.
His mother.
His mistress.
His business.
His reputation.
Lily had always come after whatever screamed loudest.
“I can’t control federal prosecutors.”
“You can tell them Margaret didn’t know.”
“But she did.”
“Maya.”
“No.”
He slammed his palm against the table.
“My mother is sixty-eight years old.”
I stared at him.
“Lily was seven.”
The room went silent.
David’s face broke.
He looked down.
“I know.”
“No.”
I shook my head.
“You know now.”
Tears filled his eyes.
“I hear her recording every night.”
I froze.
“What recording?”
“Her hospital message.”
My chest tightened.
I had assumed investigators had shared it with his lawyer.
David whispered Lily’s words.
“I don’t want Mommy to be scared by herself.”
He began crying.
“I left both of you.”
I did not comfort him.
Some truths need to hurt.
Then David wiped his face.
“There’s something you don’t know.”
I waited.
He looked toward his lawyer.
The lawyer nodded once.
David said, “My father wanted me to leave the country permanently.”
“When?”
“Before the Bahamas trip.”
“Why?”
“He knew the trust investigation was coming.”
I stared at him.
“What investigation?”
David looked directly at me.
May you like
“The bank had already flagged the transfers before Lily entered the ICU.”
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