Chapter 4 - My Father Walked Into Daniel's Company Like He Owned ItWhile doctors fought to keep my daughters inside me for a few more hours, my father walked into my dead husband's company and announced that he was taking control.
Everything moved quickly.
Nurses surrounded me.
A fetal monitor was strapped across my stomach.
An IV line went into my arm.
Questions flew from every direction.
Thirty-four weeks.
Twins.
No bleeding.
Water broken at approximately 9:27.
Physical trauma before rupture.
I answered automatically while staring at the ceiling tiles.
Two small heartbeats filled the room.
Fast.
Steady.
Alive.
That sound finally broke me.
I turned my face toward the wall and cried.
Not because of Richard.
Not because of the house.
Because Daniel should have been standing beside me.
He should have been pacing.
He should have been asking the nurses too many questions.
He should have been holding my hand while pretending he wasn't terrified.
Instead, I had a stranger adjusting an IV and a police officer waiting outside my room.
“Your babies look good right now,” the obstetrician told me. “We're going to try to slow labor if it's safe, administer steroids for lung development, and watch both babies closely.”
“Will they be okay?”
“We have every reason to be hopeful.”
Hopeful.
I clung to the word.
Two hours later, Michael arrived carrying a leather briefcase.
He was fifty-eight, silver-haired, usually impeccably calm.
Today, he looked furious.
Before discussing legal documents, he asked about the babies.
When I told him they were stable, his shoulders relaxed.
Then he sat beside my bed.
“Emily, I need to tell you some things Daniel intended to explain himself.”
I looked toward the chair where Daniel should have been.
“Then tell me.”
Michael opened the briefcase.
The first document he removed was a copy of our deed.
My name appeared beside Daniel's.
Recorded five years earlier.
“Your father either never checked this,” Michael said, “or he believed he could intimidate you into signing something later.”
“He said he was taking control because I wasn't capable.”
“Richard has always confused confidence with authority.”
Despite myself, I smiled faintly.
Then Michael took out another folder.
“Carter Restoration.”
Daniel's company had started with three employees and one borrowed truck.
By the time he died, it employed seventy-six people.
Daniel rarely talked about its value.
He cared more about whether everyone had work during winter.
Michael slid a valuation report toward me.
I read the number twice.
Then a third time.
$11.8 million.
I stared at him.
“That can't be right.”
“It is.”
“Daniel's company was worth almost twelve million dollars?”
“Conservatively.”
I laughed once.
It sounded hysterical.
“He drove a seven-year-old truck.”
“He liked that truck.”
“He complained whenever coffee went over five dollars.”
Michael almost smiled.
“That also sounds like Daniel.”
I touched the valuation report.
“Why didn't I know?”
“You knew the company was successful.”
“Not this successful.”
“Daniel wasn't hiding wealth from you. Most of the value was tied up in the business, equipment, contracts, and real estate holdings.”
“Real estate?”
Michael nodded.
“Two warehouses. Office property. Several parcels purchased for expansion.”
My head spun.
“And I own this?”
“Daniel placed his controlling shares into a family trust eighteen months ago.”
“Whose family?”
“Yours.”
I looked at my stomach.
“The babies?”
“You and the girls are primary beneficiaries. You control the voting interest as trustee.”
Another silence.
Then I understood.
“My father knew.”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“We aren't certain.”
Michael opened another file.
Inside were emails.
Financial diagrams.
Names of companies I didn't recognize.
He pointed to one.
Oak Hill Development LLC.
“This company approached Daniel last year offering to purchase Carter Restoration.”
“So?”
“Oak Hill is controlled through three layers of companies.”
Michael placed another page beside it.
At the bottom appeared a name.
Richard Hale.
I felt my stomach turn.
“My father?”
“He hid his involvement.”
“Why would he do that?”
“Because Daniel would never have sold to him.”
“Why?”
Michael looked at me carefully.
“Because your father didn't want the company. He wanted its assets.”
I frowned.
Michael explained.
Richard's real estate business had been declining for years.
Projects delayed.
Loans piling up.
Private investors requesting repayments.
“Daniel's warehouses sit on land that has dramatically increased in value,” Michael said. “Richard planned to acquire the company, liquidate equipment, sell the property, and use the proceeds to stabilize his own businesses.”
“He was going to destroy seventy-six people's jobs?”
“Yes.”
“For land?”
“And cash.”
I looked at the documents.
“Daniel found out?”
“He suspected something when Oak Hill insisted on unusual contract language. He hired investigators.”
Michael handed me another report.
Richard's financial situation was worse than I'd imagined.
Loans.
Judgments.
Pending claims.
One number stood out.
$4.6 million owed.
“He's broke?”
“Close.”
“But Kelsey posts pictures from resorts every month.”
“Credit can create impressive photographs.”
My mind flashed back to her expensive sweater.
Her jewelry.
The smug way she'd walked through my kitchen.
Michael continued.
“Daniel feared Richard might approach you if anything happened to him.”
I swallowed.
“And then Daniel died.”
The room seemed suddenly colder.
Michael noticed my face.
“No.”
“What?”
“Don't go there.”
“His car accident—”
“The investigation found no evidence of tampering. The truck driver who crossed the median was hospitalized too. Police have treated it as an accident.”
“But the timing—”
“I asked the same question,” Michael admitted. “So did Daniel's business partner. We had investigators review everything. There is currently no evidence Richard had anything to do with Daniel's death.”
I exhaled slowly.
Currently.
Not exactly comforting.
“So what were Daniel's emergency instructions?”
Michael removed a sealed envelope.
My name was handwritten across it.
Daniel's handwriting.
My chest tightened instantly.
“I haven't opened this,” Michael said. “It's yours.”
My fingers shook as I tore the seal.
Inside was a single sheet.
Em—
If you're reading this because something happened to me, I'm sorry.
I know you're probably angry that I prepared for the worst. You always said I worried too much.
You were probably right.
But I need you to remember something.
You don't owe anyone access to the life we built.
Not because they're family.
Not because they pressure you.
Not because they tell you you're incapable.
Especially not your father.
I discovered Richard is in serious financial trouble. He tried to buy the company without telling me he was behind the offer.
I refused.
If he ever approaches you after I'm gone, call Michael before you sign anything.
Trust Mark at the company.
Trust Michael.
Trust yourself.
And if our girls are here when you read this, tell them their dad loved them before he ever saw their faces.
If they're not here yet, tell them anyway.
All three of you were my whole life.
—D
I pressed the letter against my mouth.
For several minutes, I couldn't speak.
Michael looked away and gave me privacy.
When I finally lowered the page, tears covered my cheeks.
“There's more,” he said gently.
I almost laughed.
“Of course there is.”
“Daniel authorized me to provide his investigation to Carter Restoration's board if Richard attempted to interfere with you or the trust.”
“And you did?”
“At 10:02 this morning.”
“What happens now?”
“The board has frozen all pending negotiations involving entities connected to Richard.”
“Were there pending negotiations?”
Michael nodded.
“One.”
My blood ran cold.
“What was he trying to do?”
“Purchase Carter Restoration's primary warehouse from the company through another shell entity.”
“But Daniel was dead. Who approved that?”
“No one yet.”
“Then why—”
Michael's expression hardened.
“Because someone inside Daniel's company was helping him.”
Before I could respond, a nurse entered quickly.
Her eyes went to the monitors.
“Emily, I need you to lie on your left side.”
“What happened?”
“One baby's heart rate dipped.”
Michael stood.
The nurse pressed a button.
Another nurse rushed in.
Then the doctor.
Everything accelerated.
“Emily, breathe.”
“What's wrong?”
“Baby B is showing decelerations.”
“Is she okay?”
“We're monitoring.”
Another contraction hit.
The monitor changed again.
The doctor's expression tightened.
“Emily, if this continues, we may need to deliver.”
“Now?”
“Possibly.”
My heart raced.
Then the door opened.
A police officer stepped in.
“Ms. Carter, I'm sorry. I know this is a terrible time.”
“What?”
“We have a situation involving your father.”
Michael turned.
“What situation?”
The officer looked at him.
“Richard Hale made bail approximately thirty minutes ago.”
My throat tightened.
“He's out?”
“Yes.”
“Why are you telling me?”
The officer hesitated.
“Because he didn't go home.”
I stared at him.
“Where did he go?”
May you like
The officer's answer made Michael grab his phone immediately.
“Carter Restoration.”
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