{"id":12101,"date":"2026-09-16T22:36:06","date_gmt":"2026-09-16T22:36:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/?p=12101"},"modified":"2026-09-16T22:36:06","modified_gmt":"2026-09-16T22:36:06","slug":"part-5-the-supplier-account-led-to-a-secret-partnership-and-the-man-daniel-trusted-most-finally-admitted-why-they-needed-me-kept-ignorant","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/?p=12101","title":{"rendered":"PART 5 \u2013 The Supplier Account Led to a Secret Partnership, and the Man Daniel Trusted Most Finally Admitted Why They Needed Me Kept Ignorant"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Nina was waiting for me at the lake house when I arrived.<\/p>\n<p>She had taken over my father\u2019s dining room so completely that it no longer looked like a place where anyone had ever eaten. Bank statements, corporate filings, printed emails, supplier contracts, and transaction maps covered almost every inch of the table. Two laptops glowed beside a cold pot of coffee. A yellow legal pad near Nina\u2019s elbow contained names connected by arrows.<\/p>\n<p>Andrew Bell\u2019s name had been circled three times.<\/p>\n<p>I removed my coat and hung it over the back of a chair.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou confirmed the supplier account.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Nina nodded.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s worse than we thought.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I sat across from her.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShow me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She slid a packet toward me.<\/p>\n<p>The first page belonged to a company called Westbridge Procurement Services.<\/p>\n<p>I recognized the name.<\/p>\n<p>Prescott Logistics had used Westbridge for nearly two years as an intermediary for fuel-card negotiations, maintenance sourcing, and fleet equipment purchases.<\/p>\n<p>I had questioned the arrangement once.<\/p>\n<p>Daniel told me Westbridge had access to vendor pricing unavailable to smaller operators.<\/p>\n<p>At the time, it had sounded plausible.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat am I looking at?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWestbridge isn\u2019t independent.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I looked up.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWho owns it?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOn paper, a holding company registered in Delaware.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd behind that?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAndrew.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I stared at her.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAndrew owns Westbridge?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBeneficially, yes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The room went still.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDaniel knew.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI would say so.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow sure are you?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Nina turned another page.<\/p>\n<p>An email.<\/p>\n<p>Daniel to Andrew.<\/p>\n<p>Once Westbridge is positioned between us and the vendors, the margin should disappear into operating cost without drawing attention.<\/p>\n<p>I read the sentence twice.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat margin?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBetween four and seven percent depending on the supplier.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I frowned.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo Prescott Logistics was paying inflated prices.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd the difference went to Westbridge.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhich Andrew controlled.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I kept reading.<\/p>\n<p>Another email.<\/p>\n<p>Andrew to Daniel.<\/p>\n<p>C.M. still reviews fuel variance. Keep that contract clean until she backs away completely.<\/p>\n<p>My initials.<\/p>\n<p>C.M.<\/p>\n<p>I felt the old, familiar chill of recognizing myself in someone else\u2019s plan.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey were waiting for me to stop looking.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd I did.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Nina leaned back.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou trusted your husband.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat\u2019s not the same thing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt feels like it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She did not argue.<\/p>\n<p>I set the page down.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow much?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPreliminary estimate? Just over two million moved through Westbridge-related margins.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat\u2019s the account you mentioned.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSplit how?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe don\u2019t know yet.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I looked at Andrew\u2019s name on the legal pad.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGet him in a room.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Nina\u2019s eyebrows lifted.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cVoluntarily?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf possible.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd if not?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThen counsel handles it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe may lawyer up immediately.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe should.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Nina studied me.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou sound like you\u2019re expecting him to talk.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI know Andrew.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo did you know Daniel.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The sentence was careful, not cruel.<\/p>\n<p>It still landed.<\/p>\n<p>I looked down at the documents.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou\u2019re right.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cClaire, familiarity is not leverage anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat is?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFear.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I looked at her.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe\u2019s already suspended. His consulting access has been cut. If he believes Daniel can protect him, he stays quiet. If he realizes Daniel cannot protect anyone, he may reconsider.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I thought about Andrew\u2019s face in the boardroom.<\/p>\n<p>Pale.<\/p>\n<p>Silent.<\/p>\n<p>Watching Daniel lose vote after vote.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCall him.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Nina did.<\/p>\n<p>Andrew refused the first meeting.<\/p>\n<p>Then he called back twenty-three minutes later.<\/p>\n<p>He agreed to meet at Nina\u2019s office the following morning with counsel present.<\/p>\n<p>That night, I slept badly.<\/p>\n<p>Not because I was afraid of what Andrew might say.<\/p>\n<p>Because I was beginning to understand there might not be a single betrayal large enough to contain the others.<\/p>\n<p>Daniel had not made one desperate decision.<\/p>\n<p>He had built a system.<\/p>\n<p>The next morning, Nina\u2019s conference room felt colder than it probably was.<\/p>\n<p>Andrew sat across from us in a charcoal jacket and no tie. His lawyer, a thin man named Stephen Lyle, arranged his papers with deliberate calm.<\/p>\n<p>Andrew would not look at me.<\/p>\n<p>For years, he had been easy around me.<\/p>\n<p>He called me Morgan when he was teasing me and Claire only when he wanted something.<\/p>\n<p>That morning, he used neither.<\/p>\n<p>Nina began.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe are not here to negotiate immunity.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Stephen nodded.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cUnderstood.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe are not making representations concerning civil or criminal exposure.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cUnderstood.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Andrew rubbed his thumb across the edge of his water glass.<\/p>\n<p>Nina placed the Westbridge ownership record on the table.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIs Westbridge Procurement Services beneficially owned by you?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Stephen glanced at Andrew.<\/p>\n<p>Andrew swallowed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid Daniel Prescott know?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I felt no surprise.<\/p>\n<p>Only confirmation.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid Prescott Logistics pay Westbridge inflated vendor rates?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Andrew hesitated.<\/p>\n<p>Stephen leaned toward him.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf you answer, answer accurately.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Andrew closed his eyes briefly.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow were the margins divided?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He looked at Daniel\u2019s absent chair as though expecting him to appear.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMostly between me and Daniel.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMostly?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSome was used for other things.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat things?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t know all of it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTry.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Andrew finally looked at me.<\/p>\n<p>His face was strained.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDaniel had obligations.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat kind?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFamily.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I almost laughed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHis family had nine million dollars\u2019 worth of needs?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Andrew looked down.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThen what?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He rubbed both hands over his face.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cExpansion deals. Personal investments. Property. Things he didn\u2019t want running through standard compensation.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Nina spoke.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTaxes sometimes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Stephen stiffened.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAndrew.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat?\u201d Andrew snapped. \u201cThey already have the records.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>His lawyer stopped.<\/p>\n<p>Andrew looked exhausted.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor some of it, Daniel thought the company owed him.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I watched him.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOwed him.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe said he was underpaid compared with what he built.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe set his own compensation package.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Andrew gave a humorless smile.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo he stole from the company because his salary offended him.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe didn\u2019t call it stealing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat did he call it?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Andrew looked at me.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTaking back value.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Something inside my chest tightened.<\/p>\n<p>Daniel had always been good with language.<\/p>\n<p>Not because he lied beautifully.<\/p>\n<p>Because he found softer words for hard things.<\/p>\n<p>Debt became leverage.<\/p>\n<p>Risk became ambition.<\/p>\n<p>Secrecy became discretion.<\/p>\n<p>Theft became taking back value.<\/p>\n<p>Nina slid another document across.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy were Claire\u2019s signatures copied?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Andrew\u2019s face changed.<\/p>\n<p>That was the question he feared.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI wasn\u2019t involved in all of those.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAll?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Stephen intervened.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy client is not admitting knowledge of every transaction.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI didn\u2019t say he was.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Nina kept her eyes on Andrew.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhich ones did you know about?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He looked at his hands.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe restructuring documents.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>My spine stiffened.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou knew.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Andrew nodded once.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDaniel told me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat did he tell you?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat the company couldn\u2019t move forward with you controlling voting rights.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMove forward how?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSale, acquisition, recapitalization. Whatever happened next.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhatever happened next?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He gave me a tired look.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cClaire, the company got too big for the way it started.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I stared at him.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe way it started included me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo. Apparently you didn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Stephen shifted.<\/p>\n<p>Andrew breathed out slowly.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDaniel felt trapped.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I laughed once.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBy my ownership?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBy needing your approval.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat\u2019s what ownership means.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe said you were emotionally attached to the company.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd he wasn\u2019t?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe was attached to control.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The honesty of it stopped me.<\/p>\n<p>Andrew realized too late what he had said.<\/p>\n<p>Nina picked it up immediately.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cControl over what?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe business.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOr Claire?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Andrew looked toward Stephen.<\/p>\n<p>His lawyer remained silent.<\/p>\n<p>I leaned forward.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid Daniel want me removed from the company because of the sale, or did he want the sale because it would remove me?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Andrew met my eyes.<\/p>\n<p>For the first time, I saw something like shame.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBoth.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I sat back.<\/p>\n<p>There it was.<\/p>\n<p>Not merely money.<\/p>\n<p>Not merely greed.<\/p>\n<p>He wanted a structure in which I could never interrupt him again.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy hide it from me?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Andrew laughed without humor.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause Daniel knew you\u2019d notice the numbers.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The sentence echoed the email.<\/p>\n<p>Claire will notice if you rush it.<\/p>\n<p>I felt my fingers go cold.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat else would I notice?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Andrew hesitated.<\/p>\n<p>Stephen looked at him sharply.<\/p>\n<p>That reaction mattered.<\/p>\n<p>Nina saw it too.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat else?\u201d she repeated.<\/p>\n<p>Andrew stared at the table.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe acquisition debt.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat acquisition?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>No answer.<\/p>\n<p>My heartbeat changed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat acquisition, Andrew?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He closed his eyes.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRedwood Freight.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I knew the company.<\/p>\n<p>A regional competitor Daniel had discussed buying the previous year.<\/p>\n<p>He told me negotiations failed because the owner wanted too much.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat about Redwood?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe bought part of it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I stared.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo, we didn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEight months ago.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThrough Prescott?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThrough what?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnother entity.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Of course.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow much?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEleven million.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I stood without realizing I had moved.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhere did eleven million dollars come from?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLoans.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhose loans?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Andrew looked directly at me.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBacked by assets tied to Morgan Property Holdings.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The room disappeared for a second.<\/p>\n<p>My building.<\/p>\n<p>My company.<\/p>\n<p>The property I owned before marriage.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Nina\u2019s voice became sharp.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAndrew, be precise.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He swallowed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDaniel used property-related guarantees.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe couldn\u2019t pledge Morgan Property Holdings without Claire.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThen how?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>His gaze dropped.<\/p>\n<p>Another copied signature.<\/p>\n<p>I knew before he said it.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe paperwork had her approval.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>My chair scraped as I sat back down.<\/p>\n<p>This was different.<\/p>\n<p>Money moved out of a company was one thing.<\/p>\n<p>Using my property to secure secret debt was another.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow much exposure?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Andrew\u2019s voice dropped.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPotentially eighteen million if the deal collapses.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Nina stood.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMeeting over.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Stephen looked relieved.<\/p>\n<p>Andrew looked terrified.<\/p>\n<p>I did not move.<\/p>\n<p>Nina turned to me.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cClaire.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I kept staring at Andrew.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid Daniel know that could put my building at risk?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Andrew\u2019s expression answered before his mouth did.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I breathed in.<\/p>\n<p>Slowly.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid he discuss it?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Andrew rubbed his eyes.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe said you\u2019d never let the company fail.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That sentence hurt more than anything else he had said.<\/p>\n<p>Not because it was cruel.<\/p>\n<p>Because Daniel had built his plan around something true.<\/p>\n<p>For nine years, I had saved him.<\/p>\n<p>If the debt surfaced, if the acquisition failed, if the company faced collapse, he believed I would step in.<\/p>\n<p>Again.<\/p>\n<p>Andrew looked at me.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe said if it ever became a problem, you\u2019d cover it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The room was silent.<\/p>\n<p>I remembered Daniel on the kitchen floor years ago.<\/p>\n<p>Please.<\/p>\n<p>I remembered the bank negotiations.<\/p>\n<p>The inheritance transfer.<\/p>\n<p>The nights I sat alone with spreadsheets while he slept upstairs.<\/p>\n<p>He had transformed my loyalty into collateral.<\/p>\n<p>Nina closed the file.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe are done.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Andrew stood.<\/p>\n<p>His lawyer gathered papers.<\/p>\n<p>Before he reached the door, I spoke.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOne question.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He turned.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid Daniel ever plan to tell me?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Andrew looked at me for a long time.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The door closed behind him.<\/p>\n<p>I remained seated.<\/p>\n<p>Nina said nothing until I finally asked, \u201cCan the guarantee be challenged?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf the signature is fraudulent, possibly. But lenders may fight.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow fast can we establish the exposure?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019ll make calls now.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I looked through the glass toward the city.<\/p>\n<p>My father\u2019s building.<\/p>\n<p>My father\u2019s money.<\/p>\n<p>My work.<\/p>\n<p>Daniel had treated all three like resources available to him simply because I loved him.<\/p>\n<p>My phone rang.<\/p>\n<p>Daniel.<\/p>\n<p>I answered.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat did Andrew tell you?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>No greeting.<\/p>\n<p>No concern.<\/p>\n<p>Fear.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEnough.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cClaire, he\u2019s protecting himself.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe\u2019ll say anything.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe admitted Westbridge.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Silence.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe admitted the restructuring plan.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Another silence.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe admitted Redwood.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Daniel inhaled sharply.<\/p>\n<p>That was the one.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat did he say about Redwood?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause he doesn\u2019t understand the transaction.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDo I?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cClaire.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid you pledge Morgan Property Holdings?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt isn\u2019t that simple.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes or no.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt was temporary security.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid you use my signature?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>His voice rose.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou benefited from the acquisition.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI didn\u2019t know it existed.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou would have.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOnce the integration was complete.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I closed my eyes.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou used my property.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI protected our future.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cClaire, listen to me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou used my property without my consent.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI knew you wouldn\u2019t agree.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The words came out before he could stop them.<\/p>\n<p>I went still.<\/p>\n<p>Daniel did too.<\/p>\n<p>Neither of us spoke.<\/p>\n<p>Finally, I said, \u201cThank you.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor what?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor the truth.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cClaire, wait.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I ended the call.<\/p>\n<p>Nina was already typing.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat are you doing?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDocumenting the admission.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I looked toward the closed conference-room door.<\/p>\n<p>Andrew had finally given us what Daniel never intended me to know.<\/p>\n<p>But as Nina started tracing the Redwood loan documents, another name appeared on the guarantee package.<\/p>\n<p>One I recognized immediately.<\/p>\n<p>Richard Prescott.<\/p>\n<p>Daniel\u2019s father had signed as a witness.<\/p>\n<p>And suddenly I understood that Daniel might not have been hiding the truth only from me.<\/p>\n<p>His family may have helped him do it.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<h2><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/?p=12102\">Click here to continue reading: PART 6: Richard\u2019s Signature Forced Daniel\u2019s Family to Choose Sides, and Patricia\u2019s Explanation Exposed How Long They Had Been Preparing to Erase Me<\/a><\/strong><\/h2>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Nina was waiting for me at the lake house when I arrived. She had taken over my father\u2019s dining room so completely that it no longer looked like a place &hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12096,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12101","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-insightdrama"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12101","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12101"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12101\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12129,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12101\/revisions\/12129"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/12096"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12101"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12101"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12101"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}