Chapter 20 - THE FOUR HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS
Valerie stopped answering questions.
Her lawyer began answering instead.
That was usually when family drama became expensive.
Valerie claimed the signatures were associated with “general educational support” and that she never understood the trust's full value.
Daniel was skeptical.
Elena was angrier about something else.
“Sophie knew none of it.”
“No,” Daniel said.
“Was any money distributed?”
“Very little.”
Tuition for a private high school program.
One semester of college.
A medical bill.
Roughly thirty-eight thousand dollars total.
Sophie remembered those things differently.
“My mother said scholarships paid for school.”
Valerie had transformed Marcus's money into invisible assistance.
Another family narrative.
Another person controlling what support meant by controlling the story surrounding it.
Elena hated how familiar that felt.
Sophie asked:
“Can I refuse the trust?”
Daniel said:
“We don't even know whether you're legally entitled to it yet.”
“Good.”
Elena looked at her.
“Don't make financial decisions because you're angry.”
Sophie almost smiled.
“That sounds like experience.”
“You have no idea.”
Diane remained mostly silent.
Then Sophie asked her:
“Why didn't you ever tell Elena?”
Diane took a long time.
“Because Marcus asked me not to.”
“You respected him that much?”
“No.”
The answer surprised everyone.
Diane continued.
“I liked knowing something Elena didn't.”
Elena closed her eyes.
There it was.
Not noble.
Not monstrous.
Honest.
“It made me feel important.”
Sophie stared.
Diane added:
“That was who I was then.”
Elena noticed the wording.
Was.
Not:
That wasn't me.
Later, Daniel discovered why Valerie had suddenly allowed Sophie to find the photographs.
It had not been accidental.
Six months earlier, Valerie's home had been refinanced.
Her retirement savings were nearly gone.
She owed more than $180,000.
Then she contacted the bank holding SR-17.
She asked whether the trust could be accelerated.
The bank refused without establishing Sophie as Thomas Morgan's biological child.
Three weeks later, Sophie “found” the box containing Marcus's photographs.
Elena confronted Valerie.
“You sent your daughter to us.”
“I did not.”
“You arranged for her to find everything.”
“I stopped hiding it.”
“When you needed money.”
Valerie's expression hardened.
“You think you're morally superior because you inherited Marcus's fortune?”
“No.”
“Marcus left me with everything!”
“He wasn't Sophie's father.”
“He participated in what happened!”
Elena went still.
“What does that mean?”
Valerie looked away.
Sophie stared at her mother.
“Mom.”
Valerie's voice lowered.
“Marcus knew Thomas was dangerous.”
Everyone stopped.
“He knew before I left Thomas.”
Sophie whispered:
“And he did nothing?”
Valerie looked at Marcus's photograph.
“He warned me once.”
“Once?”
“He could have told his parents. His friends. Anyone.”
Elena felt something colder than anger.
Marcus had written:
I know what Thomas did to you.
But maybe his guilt wasn't only about what Thomas did.
Maybe Marcus believed he had failed to stop it.
Then Daniel called with the DNA laboratory's answer.
A preserved surgical sample from Thomas still existed.
Testing was legally possible.
And Sophie said:
May you like
“Do it.”
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