The Call That Destroyed My Father Chapter 05
I sucked in a breath.
“Half the money he moved came from company funds.”
My mother opened a file.
“He used Serena’s Lane Contemporary Gallery to issue fake invoices and pulled almost $2,500,000/ out of the company. This isn’t just marital asset dissipation anymore. It’s theft, fraud, and possible felony embezzlement.”
“The company has 2 other partners.” My mother smiled coldly. “They don’t usually manage day-to-day operations. They just take their distributions. What do you think they’ll do when they find out Richard moved their money to bankroll Serena?”
The next day, my mother acted like nothing was wrong.
She went to the farmers’ market and greeted the neighbors as if her world hadn’t just shifted.
My father didn’t come home for 3 days.
On the afternoon of the 4th day, my mother suddenly called me.
“Claire, take off work and come to Mercy General Hospital.” Her voice was urgent.
I took a cab there immediately.
In the ER hallway, I saw her.
She was staring toward the registration desk.
I followed her gaze.
My father was standing there, handing over insurance information and looking anxious.
Serena was sitting on a bench beside him.
Her hand was pressed to her stomach, and her face was pale.
The little boy named Mason was crying beside her.
“What happened?” I asked in a low voice.
“Serena had a pregnancy scare,” my mother said without emotion. “Richard walked out of a
meeting and rushed her to the ER.”
“She’s pregnant again?” I felt a wave of disgust.
“Yes.” My mother took a document from her bag and handed it to me. “Guess what Richard needs most right now?”
I glanced at it.
It was a company financial statement.
“He needs cash,” my mother said. “He put all his liquid cash into that house and the gallery. Now the company’s operating account is dry. He can’t even cover next month’s vendor payments.”
“What is he going to do?”
“He wants to refinance our house.” My mother sneered. “Yesterday, he called and told me to get my ID ready and be available for the closing paperwork. He said he needed my signature for company cash flow.”
My heart jumped.
“You didn’t agree, right?”
“Of course not.” My mother looked at my father in the distance. “Not only that, I’m about to hand him a surprise.”
She took out her phone and dialed a number.
“Hello, Mark.” My mother’s voice turned anxious. “It’s Diane. Is Richard at the office? I can’t find him anywhere.”
The man on the other end was Mark Sullivan, one of the company’s partners.
“No, Diane. Richard said he was meeting an important client and wouldn’t be back at the office this afternoon.”
“Meeting a client?” My mother deliberately raised her voice. “That’s strange. I just saw him at Mercy General, near the women’s health unit. He was with a young woman, and she looked pregnant. I thought maybe she was an employee’s family member…”
The line went silent.
“Diane, you’re sure it was the women’s health unit?” Mark’s voice changed.
“Yes. I even took a photo because I wanted to ask him about it. Maybe I saw wrong. Don’t mention this to him, Mark. He’ll just say I’m being paranoid again.”
My mother hung up, and a small smile crossed her face.
Just then, my father finished at registration and helped Serena toward the exam rooms.
Serena leaned into his arms, looking weak and pitiful.
“Richard, our baby will be okay, right?”
“Don’t worry. The doctor said you just need a few days of rest.” My father comforted her gently.
I watched them walk away and felt sick.
For the next few days, the house was terrifyingly quiet.
Every day, my father messaged my mother, urging her to get the deed ready.
Every time, my mother made some excuse to put it off.
Finally, my father lost patience.
On Friday night, he stormed through the front door in a rage.
