Chapter 18 - The Transfer to Jennifer’s Mother
Jennifer stared at the bank record.
“That’s impossible.”
Rachel did not speak.
“My mother doesn’t know anything about Westbridge.”
“The transfer exists.”
Jennifer called Susan immediately.
Her mother answered cheerfully.
That made it worse.
“Mom, did Daniel ever send you money?”
Silence.
Jennifer’s chest tightened.
“Mom?”
Susan sighed.
“Yes.”
Jennifer stood.
“How much?”
“Jennifer—”
“How much?”
“Seventy-five thousand.”
Jennifer closed her eyes.
“Why?”
Susan started crying.
The truth came slowly.
Six months earlier, Susan had discovered that a small business loan left by Jennifer’s late father was at risk of foreclosure against her home.
She had hidden the problem from Jennifer because Jennifer was pregnant.
Daniel found out.
He offered to help.
Susan accepted.
“He told me it was his personal money.”
Jennifer felt dizzy.
“Did he ask you for anything?”
“No.”
“Nothing?”
Susan hesitated.
“He asked me not to tell you until after Lily was born.”
Jennifer sat down.
Daniel had bought silence everywhere.
Sometimes with threats.
Sometimes with kindness.
That was what made him dangerous.
He knew exactly which version of himself each person needed to see.
“Mom, the money may have come from stolen funds.”
Susan began sobbing.
“I didn’t know.”
“I believe you.”
Jennifer meant it.
The foreclosure issue was turned over to the attorneys.
Susan cooperated fully and agreed to return whatever funds the court required.
Daniel’s final attempt to create leverage had failed.
But Jennifer remained troubled by the timing.
Why transfer the money on the morning of the baptism?
Marcus found the answer.
Daniel had moved money through Susan’s account because he expected investigators might eventually examine Westbridge.
A payment to Jennifer’s mother could later be characterized as family support.
He was already building explanations for future scrutiny.
Even while celebrating Lily’s baptism, Daniel had been preparing his defense.
That realization removed the last trace of sympathy Jennifer carried for him.
The settlement conference occurred three weeks later.
Daniel looked thinner.
His expensive suit hung differently on him.
Jennifer sat across the table.
Their attorneys worked through property.
Debts.
Custody provisions.
Reimbursement.
Then Daniel asked for five minutes alone with Jennifer.
Rachel refused.
Jennifer surprised her.
“I’ll speak to him with you in the room.”
Daniel looked at Jennifer.
“Was any of it real?”
She considered the question.
“Our daughter is real.”
His eyes dropped.
“Us.”
Jennifer answered carefully.
“I was real.”
Daniel flinched.
She continued.
“My love was real.”
“My trust was real.”
“My marriage was real to me.”
She looked directly at him.
“That’s why what you did mattered.”
Daniel said nothing.
Jennifer stood.
“I don’t need to decide which of your feelings were genuine anymore.”
Then she signed the settlement framework.
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For the first time since opening the folder at the baptism party, Jennifer knew exactly where her future began.
Without Daniel.
