Then Mom said the sentence that shattered another piece of the life I thought I knew.
“Because Vanessa isn’t the person I was trying to expose.”
I stared at her.
“What?”
She reached into her purse and pulled out an old envelope.
The paper had yellowed.
My name was written on the front.
In Dad’s handwriting.
“For David,” it said.
My hands went cold.
“Where did you get that?”
“Your father left it with Harold.”
Harold spoke quietly.
“He instructed me to give it to you only if certain circumstances occurred.”
“What circumstances?”
Mom answered.
“If money ever started disappearing from the family accounts.”
I opened the envelope.
Inside was a letter.
The first line forced me to sit.
David,
If you are reading this, then the mistake I made twenty-seven years ago has come back.
I looked up.
“What mistake?”
Mom was sobbing.
Harold stared at the floor.
I
