{"id":13417,"date":"2026-09-18T19:25:59","date_gmt":"2026-09-18T19:25:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/?p=13417"},"modified":"2026-09-18T19:25:59","modified_gmt":"2026-09-18T19:25:59","slug":"part-10-we-reached-my-parents-house-before-thomas-could-leave-and-found-my-uncle-burning-records-dad-never-knew-existed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/?p=13417","title":{"rendered":"PART 10 \u2013 We Reached My Parents\u2019 House Before Thomas Could Leave, and Found My Uncle Burning Records Dad Never Knew Existed"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Nobody wanted Mom to go.<\/p>\n<p>That guaranteed she would.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy brother is in my house.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Julian stood between her and the door.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhich is precisely why police should handle it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI am not waiting here.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEvelyn\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMove.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Maya stepped beside him.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMom.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mom turned.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou stay.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>For a moment they looked almost identical.<\/p>\n<p>Same lifted chin.<\/p>\n<p>Same refusal.<\/p>\n<p>Then Maya said, \u201cYou don\u2019t get to order everyone around because you\u2019re scared.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mom\u2019s expression softened unexpectedly.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI am scared.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The admission stopped Maya.<\/p>\n<p>So did it stop me.<\/p>\n<p>Mom looked toward me.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf Daniel did this\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She could not finish.<\/p>\n<p>I understood.<\/p>\n<p>Daniel was her younger brother.<\/p>\n<p>Grandma\u2019s son.<\/p>\n<p>The uncle who appeared at Christmas with expensive wine and disappeared before dishes were washed. The man who called me \u201cProfessor\u201d when I was a teenager because I corrected him once about interest rates.<\/p>\n<p>Family history had made him irritating.<\/p>\n<p>The drive had made him dangerous.<\/p>\n<p>Julian called police while Dad contacted the private security company monitoring the house.<\/p>\n<p>The alarm showed no forced entry.<\/p>\n<p>Dad looked grim.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDaniel knows the code.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe feeds the dogs when we travel.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Of course.<\/p>\n<p>We took two cars.<\/p>\n<p>Julian drove Mom and Maya.<\/p>\n<p>I went with Dad because neither of us volunteered to sit together and therefore somehow ended up doing exactly that.<\/p>\n<p>For the first five minutes, he said nothing.<\/p>\n<p>Then:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI didn\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I watched streetlights move across the windshield.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAbout which part?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThomas.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat doesn\u2019t narrow it down.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He gripped the steering wheel.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI thought he was helping.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou also thought I signed consent you never asked me for.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That surprised me.<\/p>\n<p>No defense.<\/p>\n<p>He swallowed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI knew something was wrong with the paperwork.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I turned.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow wrong?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI didn\u2019t know it was forged.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe told me you had given standing consent through the trust administrator.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd you believed him.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI wanted to.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>There it was.<\/p>\n<p>The first clean truth Dad had offered.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI needed the financing. Without it, the development partnership collapsed immediately.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo you chose not to verify.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He stared at the road.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI told myself you would agree if I explained.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut you never explained.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He laughed bitterly.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause I was afraid you\u2019d say no.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Grandpa\u2019s letter seemed to whisper from my purse.<\/p>\n<p>Saying no to family did not make you disloyal.<\/p>\n<p>Dad had been afraid of exactly the authority Grandpa intended me to have.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI probably would have.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>We drove another block.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWould you have let me lose everything?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I thought carefully.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI would have made you stop borrowing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat wasn\u2019t my question.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes, it was.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He looked at me.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou think losing everything would have been better?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think stopping at two million would have been better than reaching nine.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He looked back at the road.<\/p>\n<p>Neither of us spoke again.<\/p>\n<p>Police arrived at the house minutes before us.<\/p>\n<p>The front door was unlocked.<\/p>\n<p>A security officer waited outside.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere are two vehicles registered to guests,\u201d he told Dad. \u201cOne belongs to Daniel Hayes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe other?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRental.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Thomas.<\/p>\n<p>Officers entered first.<\/p>\n<p>We waited in the driveway.<\/p>\n<p>The house looked exactly as it always had.<\/p>\n<p>Tall windows.<\/p>\n<p>Limestone fa\u00e7ade.<\/p>\n<p>Perfect landscaping.<\/p>\n<p>From the outside, nothing suggested debt, forgery, or panic.<\/p>\n<p>Appearances.<\/p>\n<p>Mom stared at it.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf we lose the house, everyone will know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I looked at her.<\/p>\n<p>She realized what she had said.<\/p>\n<p>For once, she seemed ashamed of the thought.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m sorry.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Maya leaned against the car.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou keep saying that tonight.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mom looked at her.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI have a lot to be sorry for.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The front door opened.<\/p>\n<p>An officer called Dad inside.<\/p>\n<p>We followed.<\/p>\n<p>The smell reached us halfway down the hall.<\/p>\n<p>Smoke.<\/p>\n<p>Not a house fire.<\/p>\n<p>Paper.<\/p>\n<p>The study doors were open.<\/p>\n<p>Inside, Uncle Daniel stood beside the fireplace with his hands visible.<\/p>\n<p>Two officers watched him.<\/p>\n<p>Another man was being handcuffed near Dad\u2019s desk.<\/p>\n<p>Thomas Reed.<\/p>\n<p>He looked older than I remembered.<\/p>\n<p>Smaller too.<\/p>\n<p>His gray suit was rumpled. Sweat darkened the collar of his shirt.<\/p>\n<p>The fireplace contained blackened folders.<\/p>\n<p>Dad made a sound like an animal.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat did you burn?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Thomas looked at him.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRichard.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dad lunged.<\/p>\n<p>An officer caught him.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat did you burn?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Daniel turned.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCalm down.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mom stared at her brother.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Daniel\u2019s face changed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEvie.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDon\u2019t call me that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He looked toward Maya.<\/p>\n<p>Then me.<\/p>\n<p>His expression hardened.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo she finally showed up.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I almost laughed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cApparently that\u2019s the family explanation for everything.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Daniel ignored me.<\/p>\n<p>Mom walked toward him.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid you forge my signature?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>His eyes shifted toward Thomas.<\/p>\n<p>That was enough.<\/p>\n<p>Mom slapped him.<\/p>\n<p>The officer stepped between them.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMa\u2019am.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She backed away.<\/p>\n<p>Daniel touched his cheek.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou always were dramatic.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mom stared at him.<\/p>\n<p>Something in her face broke.<\/p>\n<p>I had heard that sentence directed at me countless times.<\/p>\n<p>Now she heard its shape from the person who had probably helped teach it to her.<\/p>\n<p>Police photographed the fireplace.<\/p>\n<p>Most documents were ruined.<\/p>\n<p>Not all.<\/p>\n<p>A metal lockbox sat beneath Dad\u2019s desk.<\/p>\n<p>Thomas had apparently been trying to open it when officers arrived.<\/p>\n<p>Dad frowned.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat isn\u2019t mine.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Daniel said nothing.<\/p>\n<p>The lockbox belonged to Ridgeway.<\/p>\n<p>A warrant would be needed before police could search it unless an authorized owner consented.<\/p>\n<p>Martin Cole, as a surviving principal of the dissolved company, could potentially provide that consent.<\/p>\n<p>Julian called him.<\/p>\n<p>Martin agreed.<\/p>\n<p>He also agreed to come to the house.<\/p>\n<p>Thomas finally spoke.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou have no idea what Martin did.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Julian looked at him.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou\u2019ll have an opportunity to explain through counsel.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Thomas laughed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou think he\u2019s helping Clara because he grew a conscience?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Nobody answered.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe\u2019s protecting himself.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat is possible,\u201d Julian said.<\/p>\n<p>Thomas seemed irritated by the lack of argument.<\/p>\n<p>Daniel looked toward Mom.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEvie, you need to understand something.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou invested.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI invested fifty thousand dollars because you told me Ridgeway bought commercial property.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt did.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou used my money to go after Clara\u2019s company.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Daniel sighed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe made an offer.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSecretly.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat\u2019s how private investment works.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mom\u2019s voice rose.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou talked about using me against my daughter.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Daniel glanced toward me.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe wouldn\u2019t take your money.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe shouldn\u2019t have.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The answer came from Grandma.<\/p>\n<p>We turned.<\/p>\n<p>She stood in the doorway.<\/p>\n<p>I stared.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat are you doing here?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She lifted her chin.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is my family too.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A hotel driver hovered nervously behind her.<\/p>\n<p>Apparently Grandma had ordered a car the moment we left.<\/p>\n<p>Julian rubbed his forehead.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI surrender.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Grandma entered.<\/p>\n<p>Daniel\u2019s confidence disappeared.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMom.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She walked toward him.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid you steal from your father?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Daniel looked away.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOld accusations.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnswer me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid you repay seven hundred thousand dollars?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat was a settlement.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor what?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA disputed distribution.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Grandma stared at him.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYour father called it theft.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe called everything theft when he was angry.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe changed his trust because of you.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Daniel looked at me.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo. He changed it because Clara manipulated him.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I almost responded.<\/p>\n<p>Grandma beat me to it.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe was twenty-one.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe always knew how to impress him.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The bitterness in Daniel\u2019s voice surprised me.<\/p>\n<p>This had begun before Northstar.<\/p>\n<p>Before the trust fraud.<\/p>\n<p>Maybe before I understood there was competition at all.<\/p>\n<p>Grandma stepped closer.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYour father gave Clara authority because you frightened him.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Daniel\u2019s face tightened.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe humiliated me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo. He stopped trusting you.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The distinction landed hard.<\/p>\n<p>A knock came from the entrance.<\/p>\n<p>Martin Cole arrived with his attorney.<\/p>\n<p>He was tall, thin, and perhaps seventy. I recognized his voice immediately.<\/p>\n<p>He looked at me.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou got the letter.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGood.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Thomas laughed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHero arrives.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Martin ignored him.<\/p>\n<p>Police confirmed Martin\u2019s authority and eventually opened the lockbox under supervision.<\/p>\n<p>Inside were ledgers.<\/p>\n<p>Original agreements.<\/p>\n<p>Three external hard drives.<\/p>\n<p>And a stack of notarized documents.<\/p>\n<p>Julian examined the first.<\/p>\n<p>His expression sharpened.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He handed it to me.<\/p>\n<p>A beneficiary consent.<\/p>\n<p>My name.<\/p>\n<p>My signature.<\/p>\n<p>Not the same forgery.<\/p>\n<p>This one was perfect.<\/p>\n<p>I stared.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat looks real.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Julian nodded.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt may be.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut I never signed it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Martin spoke from across the room.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou signed the page.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I turned.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNot that document.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>My stomach tightened.<\/p>\n<p>He continued.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThomas used genuine signature pages from unrelated documents.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dad cursed.<\/p>\n<p>Martin explained that Ridgeway and Thomas had collected executed pages whenever family members signed routine paperwork.<\/p>\n<p>Those pages could later be attached to altered agreements.<\/p>\n<p>Mom sat down.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow many?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Martin looked at her.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTry.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDozens.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The room went silent.<\/p>\n<p>My father leaned against his desk.<\/p>\n<p>Years of family paperwork had become a reservoir of signatures.<\/p>\n<p>Julian began photographing everything.<\/p>\n<p>Then he found a document that made him stop.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat is it?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n<p>He read the first page.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTransfer agreement.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTransfer of what?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He looked at Martin.<\/p>\n<p>Martin closed his eyes.<\/p>\n<p>Thomas smiled for the first time.<\/p>\n<p>There was something ugly in it.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGo ahead,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Julian ignored him.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTwenty-eight percent beneficial interest in the commercial trust.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I stared.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTo whom?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He turned the page.<\/p>\n<p>The transferee was Ridgeway Strategic Partners.<\/p>\n<p>My heart pounded.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCan they do that?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNot without beneficiary authorization.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhich they forged.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cApparently.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Martin spoke.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey never completed the transfer.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Thomas laughed again.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause you stopped it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Martin looked at me.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause by then I knew what they were doing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Daniel snapped, \u201cYou knew from the beginning.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou took the money.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI invested in a legitimate partnership.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou signed the agreements.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI did not sign forged beneficiary consents.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Thomas interrupted.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou all benefited.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dad turned.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFrom what?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Thomas looked at him.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe lifestyle.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dad\u2019s face hardened.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou told me the loans were legitimate.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou never asked how.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI asked whether Clara had consented.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd I told you yes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou lied.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Thomas shrugged.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou needed the answer.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dad went silent.<\/p>\n<p>That sentence hit because it was true.<\/p>\n<p>Thomas had supplied the lie Dad wanted.<\/p>\n<p>Mom looked at Daniel.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy Clara?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Daniel\u2019s expression tightened.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy did everything require taking from Clara?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt wasn\u2019t about Clara.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt was.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo. It was about control.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He realized too late what he had admitted.<\/p>\n<p>Grandma stared.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cControl of what?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Daniel looked around.<\/p>\n<p>No answer.<\/p>\n<p>Martin gave it.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe trust was worth far more than Richard knew.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dad frowned.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow much?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Martin looked toward me.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAfter the downtown properties were rezoned and the industrial parcels appreciated?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He paused.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cApproximately forty-six million dollars.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Nobody moved.<\/p>\n<p>Dad\u2019s face emptied.<\/p>\n<p>Mom whispered, \u201cForty-six?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Grandma closed her eyes.<\/p>\n<p>She seemed unsurprised.<\/p>\n<p>I stared at her.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou knew.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNot the current value.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut you knew it was substantial.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Daniel laughed bitterly.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd Grandpa handed control to Clara.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Not ownership of all of it.<\/p>\n<p>Control.<\/p>\n<p>That distinction mattered.<\/p>\n<p>But to Daniel, apparently, it had mattered enough to justify years of manipulation.<\/p>\n<p>Martin pointed toward the transfer agreement.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf Ridgeway obtained twenty-eight percent and combined it with interests Daniel expected Evelyn and Richard to control, they believed they could challenge Clara\u2019s authority.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Julian nodded slowly.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA control block.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Northstar investment had been connected.<\/p>\n<p>Not because Northstar itself was the target.<\/p>\n<p>Because owning part of my company would create financial leverage over me.<\/p>\n<p>Everything converged on the same objective.<\/p>\n<p>Make Clara negotiable.<\/p>\n<p>Dad looked sick.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou used my debt to get to the trust.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Thomas said nothing.<\/p>\n<p>Daniel did.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou used the trust to fund your debt.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dad moved toward him.<\/p>\n<p>Police intervened again.<\/p>\n<p>Daniel laughed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDon\u2019t act righteous now, Richard. You signed every loan.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBased on forged consent.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause you didn\u2019t want to ask your daughter.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That stopped him.<\/p>\n<p>Daniel looked toward me.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEveryone here wants to pretend Thomas and I created this family.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He shook his head.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe didn\u2019t. We just understood it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I hated him for saying something partly true.<\/p>\n<p>Mom\u2019s obsession with appearances.<\/p>\n<p>Dad\u2019s pride.<\/p>\n<p>Grandma\u2019s secrecy.<\/p>\n<p>Maya\u2019s need for approval.<\/p>\n<p>My withdrawal.<\/p>\n<p>Thomas and Daniel had not invented those weaknesses.<\/p>\n<p>They had exploited them.<\/p>\n<p>An officer interrupted to say Thomas and Daniel would be taken downtown for questioning.<\/p>\n<p>As Thomas passed me, he stopped.<\/p>\n<p>Julian moved between us.<\/p>\n<p>Thomas looked over his shoulder.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou think Martin gave you everything?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I said nothing.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe didn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Martin\u2019s face tightened.<\/p>\n<p>Thomas smiled.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAsk him who actually funded Ridgeway\u2019s first offer for Northstar.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Then police led him away.<\/p>\n<p>I turned toward Martin.<\/p>\n<p>He looked suddenly exhausted.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWho?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He did not answer.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWho funded it?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Martin looked at my father.<\/p>\n<p>Dad stared back.<\/p>\n<p>Then Martin said:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRichard did.\u201d<\/p>\n<hr>\n<h2><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/?p=13418\">Click here to continue reading: PART 11: My Father Had Secretly Funded the Attempt to Buy Northstar, but His Reason Exposed the Family Lie I Had Believed for Years<\/a><\/strong><\/h2>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Nobody wanted Mom to go. That guaranteed she would. \u201cMy brother is in my house.\u201d Julian stood between her and the door. \u201cWhich is precisely why police should handle it.\u201d &hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13407,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13417","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\/13417","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=13417"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13417\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13445,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13417\/revisions\/13445"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/13407"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13417"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13417"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13417"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}