“I thought she was exaggerating.”
“Why?”
Eleanor’s face tightened.
“Because she often seemed fragile.”
“No. Because you needed her to be unreliable.”
“That isn’t fair.”
“Neither was leaving her without food.”
Eleanor looked down.
“I made a terrible mistake.”
It was the first time she had admitted anything plainly.
David felt no relief.
“Why did you pay Hudson Family Consulting?”
Her head lifted sharply.
For one second, fear crossed her face.
Then it vanished.
“I don’t know what you mean.”
“Yes, you do.”
“I came here to apologize.”
“No. You came because you know the police are reviewing the accounts.”
Eleanor’s lips pressed together.
David stepped closer.
“Who is Jonathan Reeves?”
“You’ve been speaking to Daniel.”
“Answer me.”
“He helped me with financial matters.”
“What kind of matters?”
“Your father left complications.”
“What complications?”
People passed behind the glass doors, carrying grocery bags and pushing strollers. The ordinary neighborhood scene made their conversation feel even more unreal.
Eleanor looked at her son.
“Thomas made promises he could not keep.”
“To Marisol?”
Her composure cracked.
“You have no idea who that woman is.”
“Then tell me.”
“She wanted money.”
“She says she never asked Maya for money.”
“She is lying.”
“Did you know about the messages?”
Eleanor did not answer.
“Did Jonathan intercept them?”
Still nothing.
David felt something inside him go quiet.
He no longer needed to force a confession.
Her silence was an answer of its own.
“You used Maya’s fear of losing Liam,” he said. “You knew what her mother had done to her.”
“I was trying to keep this family together.”
“By frightening my wife?”
“By protecting you.”
“From what?”
Eleanor’s eyes filled with tears.
“From becoming your father.”
David stared at her.
“What does that mean?”
“He had two lives. Two families. Two sets of promises. I spent years cleaning up what he left behind.”
Her voice trembled.
“You think he was kind because you were a child. You think he was honorable because he taught you to ride a bicycle and took you to baseball games. But I was the one who opened the bills. I was the one who found the letters.”
“Did he father Maya?”
Eleanor looked away.
“Did he?”
“I don’t know.”
The answer sounded true.
