Chapter 4 - The Secret Behind the Birthday PartyTwo days later, I discovered why they had humiliated my children that night.
It wasn't simply cruelty.
It was deliberate.
The restaurant's security footage showed Mindy speaking to Shirley before dinner.
“I need Brandon out of the picture.”
Shirley replied,
“He won't leave.”
“Then make him feel unwelcome.”
“And the children?”
“Put them somewhere else.”
The recording continued.
Mindy whispered,
“If he gets embarrassed enough, he'll walk away.”
Shirley nodded.
“And Courtney?”
“She'll follow us.”
I stared at the screen.
They had planned it.
The seating arrangement.
The humiliation.
The confrontation.
Everything.
Daniel leaned back.
“They wanted you to leave.”
“Why?”
He opened another file.
“Because your father-in-law's estate has a problem.”
I looked at him.
“What problem?”
Walter had recently changed his will.
He planned to leave a large portion of his estate to Courtney.
But there was a condition.
Courtney had to remain married.
My stomach turned.
“They wanted me gone?”
Daniel nodded.
“Then Courtney would lose the inheritance.”
I understood.
Mindy and Shirley had been trying to control my marriage because of money.
But there was more.
Daniel opened the final document.
“Walter changed the will two weeks ago.”
I read it.
He had removed Courtney from the inheritance.
I stared at him.
“Why?”
“Because he discovered the fraud.”
I looked toward the window.
“So Walter knew?”
“He found out shortly before the dinner.”
I sat silently.
Walter had known.
He had known what his family was doing.
May you like
And yet he said nothing.
Until I raised my glass.
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