Chapter 7: The Secret His Father Buried
Michael slowly lowered the phone.
Frank stood beside the fireplace, his expression unreadable.
For several seconds, neither man spoke.
Then Michael asked the question he never imagined having to ask.
“Dad, did you create Carter Family Holdings?””
Frank looked toward the window.
“Where did you hear that name?””
“Elaine. She says you created it.””
Frank closed his eyes.
Michael took a step backward.
“Tell me she's lying.””
His father rubbed both hands over his face.
“Michael, there's something about your mother's estate that I never told you.””
Michael let out a short, disbelieving laugh.
“Apparently, everybody in this family has something they never told me.””
“That's not fair.””
“Neither is finding out that my dead mother supposedly signed documents after she died.””
Frank looked at his son.
“Your mother and I had problems long before she passed away.””
Michael stared at him.
“What problems?””
Frank sat down heavily.
“Financial problems. Business problems. Things I thought I could handle without involving you.””
“Did you forge her signature?””
Frank didn't answer immediately.
That silence was worse than a confession.
Michael stepped toward the coffee table and placed the proposed trust amendment down.
“Dad, I need the truth. Now.””
Frank finally spoke.
“Twenty years ago, I started a small construction supply business. Your mother helped me build it. She handled the accounts while I managed operations.””
Michael nodded.
He remembered the old warehouse, the smell of sawdust, and the weekends he had spent helping his father move boxes.
Frank continued.
“When the housing market collapsed, the business nearly went under. I borrowed money from several people. Some legitimate. Some not.””
“Daniel?””
“No. Someone else.””
Frank looked down at his hands.
“Your mother discovered that I had borrowed against assets connected to her inheritance. She was furious. She demanded that I repay everything.””
Michael's voice hardened.
“Did you?””
“I thought I could.””
“That's not what I asked.””
Frank shook his head.
“No. Not all of it.””
Michael walked away.
His father continued.
“After your mother died, I found a way to reorganize some of the assets. Carter Family Holdings was created to protect what remained.””
“Under Mom's name?””
Frank nodded.
“I used an old authorization she had signed before she died.””
“An authorization for what?””
“To manage certain family investments.””
Michael stared at him.
“And you used it to establish a company after she died?””
Frank lowered his head.
“I thought I was protecting the family.””
“You forged her identity.””
“I never intended to steal anything from you.””
“Then why didn't you tell me?””
Frank's voice cracked.
“Because I was ashamed.””
Michael turned away.
He remembered the night his mother died.
Frank had held him in the hospital corridor and promised that everything would be okay.
Now Michael wondered how much of that promise had been a lie.
His phone rang again.
Elaine.
He answered.
“I'm here with my father.””
There was a pause.
“Then I think he needs to hear this.””
Frank looked up.
Elaine continued.
“Mr. Carter, I worked as Margaret's financial assistant for almost six years. Your mother asked me to investigate certain transfers before she died.””
Frank stood.
“Elaine, you don't know the whole situation.””
“I know enough, Frank.””
Michael looked between them.
“You two know each other?””
Elaine answered before Frank could.
“Yes. I was the one who discovered the first unauthorized transfer.””
Michael's stomach tightened.
“What transfer?””
“Money from the family trust. Nearly eighty thousand dollars. It went into an account connected to Carter Family Holdings.””
Frank shook his head.
“That money was borrowed temporarily.””
Elaine continued.
“Margaret never authorized it.””
Michael looked at his father.
“You took money from Mom's trust?””
“I was going to put it back.””
“When?””
Frank didn't answer.
Elaine's voice became quieter.
“Your mother discovered the transfer. She confronted him. After that, she asked me to make copies of every financial document I could find.””
Frank sat down again.
Michael felt the room closing around him.
“Why didn't she report him?””
“Because he was your father,” Elaine said.
“She believed he could fix what he'd done.””
Michael stared at the floor.
Two people he had loved and trusted had been hiding things from him.
One had attempted to take money.
The other had attempted to take his future.
And somehow, both secrets had become tangled together.
“Elaine,” he said, “why are you calling me now?””
“Because I received a letter yesterday.””
“From whom?””
“An attorney representing Reeves Development Group.””
Frank's head snapped up.
Elaine continued.
“They asked me to verify several documents connected to Margaret's estate. One included a statement claiming your mother had personally approved a transfer to Daniel Reeves.””
Michael felt cold.
“Did you verify it?””
“Absolutely not. Your mother was already dead when that document was supposedly signed.””
“Do you have a copy?””
“Yes.””
“Can you send it to Robert Hayes?””
“I already did.””
Michael looked toward his father.
“Is there anything else I should know?””
Elaine hesitated.
“There's one more thing.””
“What?””
“Your father wasn't the only person with access to Margaret's old authorization documents.””
Frank slowly looked up.
Elaine continued.
“Sarah worked in the home office during the last six months of your mother's life. She had access to the filing cabinet, the computer, and the scanned copies of every estate document.””
Michael closed his eyes.
That explained the signatures.
But not everything.
Then Elaine added:
“Margaret once told me she suspected Sarah and Frank were communicating privately about the trust.””
Michael turned toward his father.
“Were you working with Sarah?””
Frank looked genuinely horrified.
“No.””
“Then why would Mom think that?””
“I don't know.””
Michael's voice rose.
“Dad!””
Frank stood.
“I swear to you, I never gave Sarah permission to use those documents.””
“Permission?””
Michael shook his head.
“You keep saying the wrong things.””
Frank's eyes filled.
“I made mistakes. Terrible ones. But I never wanted you to lose your family.””
Michael looked at him.
“You helped create the company that Sarah and Daniel used to steal from Jordan.””
Frank lowered his head.
“I didn't know what they were doing.””
A car horn sounded outside.
Michael looked through the window.
A black sedan was parked across the street.
The driver was watching the house.
Then Michael's phone vibrated.
A text message from Sarah.
I know Elaine contacted you. Don't believe everything she says. Ask your father what happened the night your mother died.
Michael stared at the message.
Frank noticed his expression.
“What is it?””
Michael showed him.
His father went completely still.
“What happened that night?”” Michael asked.
Frank's face turned pale.
“Michael, don't.””
“Tell me.””
Frank sat down.
His hands were shaking.
“Your mother didn't die knowing everything was settled.””
Michael's breath caught.
“What does that mean?””
Frank looked directly at his son.
“She found out someone had entered the house and taken the original trust documents on the night she died.””
Michael stepped closer.
“Who?””
Frank's eyes filled with tears.
“I never saw the person's face.””
“Then how do you know?””
Frank looked toward the staircase.
“Because your mother called me from the hospital.””
Michael froze.
“What?””
Frank swallowed.
“She was still conscious when the ambulance arrived. She told me somebody had been in her study.””
Michael felt his heart pounding.
“What did she say?””
Frank's voice dropped.
“She said the person who took the documents was someone we both knew.””
Michael stared at him.
“And you never told the police?””
Frank covered his face.
“I was afraid.””
“Of whom?””
Frank slowly raised his eyes.
May you like
Then he whispered:
“Your mother said the person had a key to our house.””
