Chapter 8 - THE WOMAN SUSAN PAID
Lauren Pierce had signed a settlement agreement nine years earlier.
Payment:
$80,000.
Source:
Erin’s education account.
Erin stared at the bank record.
That withdrawal had been labeled “family legal expense.”
Rachel looked furious.
Susan defended herself immediately.
“She threatened the family.”
“With what?”
“A paternity claim.”
“Was it false?”
“I believed it was.”
“Then why pay?”
“Because litigation would have destroyed us.”
Possible.
Public scandal.
Legal fees.
DNA fight.
A widow with two daughters.
Susan argued she used the education account because it was the only liquid money available.
Again:
Maybe a family emergency.
But no disclosure later.
No repayment.
Then Lily agreed to meet Erin.
They met in a coffee shop halfway between Chicago and Milwaukee.
Lily looked nothing like Erin.
Dark blond hair.
Gray eyes.
Quiet.
But when she smiled, Erin saw David.
Or imagined she did.
Dangerous.
Lily brought copies of her mother’s old papers.
David had paid Lauren monthly support for two years.
Not enough to prove paternity.
But enough to prove a relationship.
Then a letter.
David to Lauren:
I will do the test when I can do it without Susan turning Erin and Madison into weapons.
Erin stopped.
Her father had feared exactly what eventually happened.
Lily looked at her.
“I don’t want your money.”
“Then why contact me?”
“Because your mother used my mother’s silence to erase me.”
Fair.
Then Lily said:
“She contacted me last year.”
Erin froze.
“Susan?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“She offered me another payment if I signed away any Parker Legacy claim.”
“How much?”
“Two hundred thousand.”
“Did you?”
“No.”
“Why?”
Lily gave a tired smile.
“Because suddenly I wondered why a false claim was worth that much.”
Then she slid over an email.
Susan to Lily:
If you pursue this, Erin will lose more than you gain.
Erin read it twice.
Susan had framed Lily as a threat to Erin.
Just like Madison’s tuition was framed as Erin’s responsibility.
Every conflict ended with one daughter being used against another.
Then Lily said:
“There’s one more thing.”
She opened a photograph.
David Parker standing beside Lauren.
Susan in the background.
Watching.
Erin looked up.
“Mom knew them together.”
Lily nodded.
Long before David died.
May you like
Susan had not discovered the secret afterward.
She had been living with it for years.
