{"id":17240,"date":"2026-09-22T21:41:02","date_gmt":"2026-09-22T21:41:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/?p=17240"},"modified":"2026-09-22T21:41:02","modified_gmt":"2026-09-22T21:41:02","slug":"part-4-arthur-had-named-candice-years-before-she-tried-to-control-me-and-the-reason-forced-my-son-to-question-everything","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/?p=17240","title":{"rendered":"PART 4 \u2013 Arthur Had Named Candice Years Before She Tried to Control Me, and the Reason Forced My Son to Question Everything"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>For several seconds I thought Rebecca had shown me the wrong page.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCandice?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat makes no sense.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI agree that it raises questions.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Julian took the phone.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDad put my wife\u2019s name in his trust?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNot as a beneficiary.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThen what?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAs a notification contact under a very specific condition.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat condition?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf someone attempted to have Evelyn declared incapacitated or placed under guardianship.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The parking lot seemed unnaturally quiet.<\/p>\n<p>Cars passed on the road beyond us.<\/p>\n<p>Someone pushed a shopping cart across the pavement.<\/p>\n<p>I heard every wheel.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy would Arthur choose Candice?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Rebecca shook her head.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe need the complete file.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Julian handed the phone back.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDad trusted her.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEleven years ago,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n<p>The distinction mattered.<\/p>\n<p>Candice had been different then.<\/p>\n<p>Or perhaps I had believed she was.<\/p>\n<p>Arthur had died only six years after Julian married her. During those years, Candice had been attentive to him. She brought meals during his final illness. She drove him to appointments when I could not. She sat beside him during chemotherapy.<\/p>\n<p>I remembered being grateful.<\/p>\n<p>Had Arthur been grateful too?<\/p>\n<p>Rebecca arranged an appointment with the successor law firm for that afternoon.<\/p>\n<p>We met attorney Malcolm Price in an office overlooking the river.<\/p>\n<p>He was nearly seventy and remembered Arthur.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYour husband was meticulous,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>I almost laughed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe hid a two-hundred-thousand-dollar problem from me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Malcolm gave a small nod.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMeticulous and transparent are not synonyms.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That sounded like Arthur.<\/p>\n<p>Malcolm placed an archival file on the table.<\/p>\n<p>Arthur had created the trust after resolving Raymond\u2019s business disaster.<\/p>\n<p>The trust held proceeds from investments and an insurance settlement.<\/p>\n<p>Its purpose was straightforward.<\/p>\n<p>My care.<\/p>\n<p>My independence.<\/p>\n<p>My home.<\/p>\n<p>Arthur had specifically prohibited anyone from using the assets to force a change in my residence without my direct consent unless two independent physicians declared me incapable.<\/p>\n<p>My throat tightened.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe knew.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cKnew what?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat I would want to stay home.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Malcolm smiled faintly.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe was emphatic about it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Julian looked toward the window.<\/p>\n<p>Malcolm continued.<\/p>\n<p>Years later, shortly before Arthur\u2019s death, he had amended the trust.<\/p>\n<p>Not because he distrusted me.<\/p>\n<p>Because he had become worried about Julian.<\/p>\n<p>My son turned.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMe?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Arthur had learned that Julian had signed financial documents without reading them.<\/p>\n<p>Not once.<\/p>\n<p>Several times.<\/p>\n<p>Nothing criminal.<\/p>\n<p>Nothing catastrophic.<\/p>\n<p>But Arthur had seen a weakness.<\/p>\n<p>His son trusted people he loved so completely that he sometimes surrendered judgment to them.<\/p>\n<p>Julian looked as though he had been struck.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat sounds like him,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n<p>Malcolm nodded.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cArthur worried that if Evelyn ever became physically dependent, someone might persuade Julian to approve decisions without examining them.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>My son whispered, \u201cHe knew me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe loved you,\u201d Malcolm said. \u201cThose are not always comfortable distinctions.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Then came Candice.<\/p>\n<p>During Arthur\u2019s final months, she had helped organize appointments and records.<\/p>\n<p>Arthur apparently believed she was more careful than Julian.<\/p>\n<p>He gave her copies of certain instructions and asked her to alert the law firm if anyone ever tried to bypass the protections around me.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe was supposed to stop this,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The betrayal landed differently now.<\/p>\n<p>Candice had not stumbled onto Arthur\u2019s secret.<\/p>\n<p>She had been entrusted with it.<\/p>\n<p>Arthur had given her the tools to protect me.<\/p>\n<p>Years later, she had apparently used her knowledge of those tools to find ways around them.<\/p>\n<p>Julian stared at the table.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat about the letter?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Malcolm opened another folder.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe have a copy.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He read the portion Candice had never shown us.<\/p>\n<p>Arthur had written that he trusted Candice to help Julian honor my choices.<\/p>\n<p>He also included a warning.<\/p>\n<p>If money ever became the reason anyone pressured me to leave the house, the trust instructions were to be disclosed immediately.<\/p>\n<p>Rebecca leaned forward.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Malcolm turned a page.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause the house is not the principal asset.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Nobody spoke.<\/p>\n<p>I blinked.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat does that mean?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Arthur had rebuilt the investment account after Raymond\u2019s collapse.<\/p>\n<p>Slowly.<\/p>\n<p>Quietly.<\/p>\n<p>The trust had continued growing after his death.<\/p>\n<p>Malcolm gave me the current figure.<\/p>\n<p>I asked him to repeat it.<\/p>\n<p>Julian sat perfectly still.<\/p>\n<p>The amount was large enough that selling my house would never have been necessary to pay for legitimate care.<\/p>\n<p>Large enough that Candice\u2019s entire justification collapsed.<\/p>\n<p>Large enough that if she had followed Arthur\u2019s instructions, she would have known there was no financial emergency requiring me to surrender my home.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe knew this existed?\u201d Rebecca asked.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe knew a protected fund existed. She did not know its current value.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCould she access it?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCould Julian?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCould Evelyn?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Malcolm looked at me.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes. It is hers.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The simplicity of those words nearly broke me.<\/p>\n<p>Mine.<\/p>\n<p>Not because of the money.<\/p>\n<p>Because Arthur, for all his secrecy and mistakes, had built something specifically designed to preserve my choices.<\/p>\n<p>Candice had taken the knowledge he entrusted to her and inverted its purpose.<\/p>\n<p>My phone rang.<\/p>\n<p>Julian looked at the screen.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCandice.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I let it ring.<\/p>\n<p>Again.<\/p>\n<p>Then again.<\/p>\n<p>Rebecca said, \u201cYou don\u2019t have to answer.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The fourth time, I did.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEvelyn.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Her voice sounded exhausted.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe need to talk.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe are talking.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAlone.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou found the trust.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I looked at Rebecca.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow do you know?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause Julian called me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>My son closed his eyes.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI called before we came here.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I looked at him.<\/p>\n<p>He did not defend himself.<\/p>\n<p>At least that was new.<\/p>\n<p>Candice continued.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cArthur wanted me involved.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe wanted you to protect my choices.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou don\u2019t understand what happened afterward.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThen explain it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She was silent.<\/p>\n<p>Finally she said, \u201cMeet me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhere?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe caf\u00e9 on Whitaker.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Rebecca shook her head.<\/p>\n<p>I understood.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEvelyn, please.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou can speak to my attorney.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI cannot tell her.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThen you cannot tell me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Candice\u2019s breathing became audible.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere is something Julian doesn\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>My son looked up.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I put the call on speaker.<\/p>\n<p>Candice realized immediately.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTake me off speaker.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEvelyn.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo more private arrangements.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Silence.<\/p>\n<p>Then Julian spoke.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat don\u2019t I know?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Candice whispered his name.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTell me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt wasn\u2019t all debt.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>His face hardened.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat does that mean?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe missing savings.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat about them?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI didn\u2019t spend all of it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhere is it?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI paid someone.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Rebecca reached for a pen.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWho?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Candice heard her.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOh, God.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWho did you pay?\u201d Julian demanded.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA man named Peter Sloan.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Nobody recognized the name.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat for?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Candice began crying again.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTo find Raymond.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I stared at the phone.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cArthur\u2019s brother?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe is dead.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The word came quietly.<\/p>\n<p>I gripped the edge of the table.<\/p>\n<p>Raymond had supposedly died nine years earlier in Arizona.<\/p>\n<p>There had been a funeral.<\/p>\n<p>An urn.<\/p>\n<p>A death certificate.<\/p>\n<p>Arthur had already been gone two years.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat are you saying?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI found evidence the certificate wasn\u2019t real.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Malcolm leaned forward.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy were you investigating Raymond?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause Arthur asked me to.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEleven years ago?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy continue now?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Candice hesitated.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause Raymond knew where the missing money went.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat missing money?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe money Arthur never recovered from the business.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I felt anger rise.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat has nothing to do with stealing from me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDoes it?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThen why are you telling us?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause Peter found Raymond.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Julian rubbed both hands over his face.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhere?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFlorida.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAlive?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd you paid him from our savings?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAt first.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAt first?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThen he demanded more.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow much?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThirty thousand.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Julian stood abruptly.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou gave thirty thousand dollars to some investigator?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe had proof.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOf what?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat Raymond had hidden assets.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy did you care?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Candice stopped crying.<\/p>\n<p>When she spoke again, her voice was almost flat.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause Arthur told me that if Raymond was alive, everything in the trust could be challenged.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Malcolm shook his head immediately.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat is not accurate.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe said Raymond had documents.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat documents?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou spent tens of thousands without knowing?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI thought I could recover it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Julian laughed bitterly.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere it is.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou thought you could make the money come back before anyone noticed.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Candice said nothing.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd when you couldn\u2019t,\u201d he continued, \u201cyou started taking Mom\u2019s.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI panicked.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou forged documents.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI panicked.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou tried to put her in a facility.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI needed time.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I felt something inside me settle.<\/p>\n<p>For days I had wondered whether there was some explanation large enough to make Candice\u2019s behavior complicated.<\/p>\n<p>There was not.<\/p>\n<p>There were explanations.<\/p>\n<p>Debt.<\/p>\n<p>Fear.<\/p>\n<p>Secrecy.<\/p>\n<p>Arthur.<\/p>\n<p>Raymond.<\/p>\n<p>Bad investments.<\/p>\n<p>Desperation.<\/p>\n<p>None of them transformed coercion into care.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou had choices,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n<p>Candice went quiet.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou could have told Julian.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe would have left.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat was his choice.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou could have told me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI was ashamed.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat was your burden.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI was trying to keep everything together.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo. You were deciding which pieces of other people\u2019s lives you were entitled to move.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Candice began to speak.<\/p>\n<p>I stopped her.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou knew Arthur wanted my independence protected.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou knew I had not agreed to Magnolia Gardens.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Silence.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou knew the statements about my mind were false.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Another silence.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Julian sat down.<\/p>\n<p>His face crumpled.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou knew.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Candice whispered, \u201cI\u2019m sorry.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He shook his head.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo. You knew.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Rebecca ended the call after telling Candice future communications concerning me should go through counsel.<\/p>\n<p>We sat in silence.<\/p>\n<p>Then Malcolm opened one final envelope from Arthur\u2019s archive.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis was to be delivered to Evelyn if the protective provisions were ever triggered.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>My name was written across the front in Arthur\u2019s handwriting.<\/p>\n<p>I touched the letters.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCan you read it?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Rebecca offered.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I handed it to Julian.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou read it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>His eyes filled.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMom.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRead.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Arthur\u2019s letter was not long.<\/p>\n<p>He apologized for believing that protecting me sometimes meant withholding frightening truths.<\/p>\n<p>He admitted that secrecy had been one of his worst habits.<\/p>\n<p>He wrote that age, illness and dependence must never become excuses for another person to make me smaller.<\/p>\n<p>Then Julian stopped.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>His voice broke.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe wrote something about me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRead it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Arthur had written:<\/p>\n<p>Julian is a good man, but goodness without attention can still permit harm. If Evelyn tells him something is wrong, he must learn to listen before deciding whom he wants to believe.<\/p>\n<p>Julian lowered the page.<\/p>\n<p>For a long time neither of us spoke.<\/p>\n<p>Then he said, \u201cDad knew exactly what I would do.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Julian looked at me.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe knew what you might do.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat isn\u2019t better.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt gives you a choice.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He stared at the letter.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI already made the wrong one.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThen make the next one differently.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He nodded.<\/p>\n<p>That evening, Rebecca drove me home.<\/p>\n<p>Julian followed in his own car but remained outside until I invited him in.<\/p>\n<p>I noticed that.<\/p>\n<p>Small things mattered now.<\/p>\n<p>He carried the cedar jewelry box upstairs and returned Arthur\u2019s photograph to my dresser.<\/p>\n<p>Then he stopped in the hallway.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMom?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m going to a hotel.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou don\u2019t have to.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think I do.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause I spent four years acting like living here gave us rights we never had.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I studied his face.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou may come tomorrow.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShould I call first?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He nodded.<\/p>\n<p>At the door, he touched the new brass lock.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI used to have a key.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou did.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWill I get another one?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNot yet.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Pain crossed his face.<\/p>\n<p>But he nodded.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat\u2019s fair.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>After he left, I walked through the house slowly.<\/p>\n<p>My suitcase sat beside the stairs.<\/p>\n<p>The boxes had been returned.<\/p>\n<p>Arthur\u2019s photograph was upstairs.<\/p>\n<p>The new locks gleamed beneath the hallway light.<\/p>\n<p>I should have felt victorious.<\/p>\n<p>Instead I felt tired.<\/p>\n<p>A victory is simple only when the people on the other side mean nothing to you.<\/p>\n<p>Candice had betrayed me.<\/p>\n<p>Julian had failed me.<\/p>\n<p>Arthur had protected me while also keeping truths from me.<\/p>\n<p>And somewhere in Florida, if Candice was telling the truth, a man I had believed dead for nine years was apparently alive and carrying documents connected to money Arthur had spent decades trying to contain.<\/p>\n<p>At nine thirty, my phone rang.<\/p>\n<p>Unknown number.<\/p>\n<p>I nearly ignored it.<\/p>\n<p>Then I answered.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMrs. Mercer?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy name is Peter Sloan.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Every muscle in my body tightened.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat do you want?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI was hired by Candice Mercer.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe told you about Raymond?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThen she probably did not tell you everything.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I sat down.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat did she leave out?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Peter hesitated.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRaymond contacted me this afternoon.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe knows Candice\u2019s plan failed.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>My hand tightened around the phone.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat does he want?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I looked toward the dark hallway.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat do you mean?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe says he will speak only to you.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAbout what?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cArthur.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>My heart began beating harder.<\/p>\n<p>Peter lowered his voice.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd he says you should not trust the version of that old financial disaster contained in Arthur\u2019s files.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause according to Raymond, Arthur wasn\u2019t protecting your house from his debts.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I stopped breathing.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat was he protecting it from?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Peter was silent long enough that I thought the call had dropped.<\/p>\n<p>Then he answered.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFrom something Arthur himself had done.\u201d<\/p>\n<hr>\n<h2><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/?p=17241\">Click here to continue reading: PART 5: Peter Sloan Claimed Arthur\u2019s Greatest Secret Was Not the Missing Money but the Decision That Had Kept Me in the Dark<\/a><\/strong><\/h2>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>For several seconds I thought Rebecca had shown me the wrong page. \u201cCandice?\u201d \u201cYes.\u201d \u201cThat makes no sense.\u201d \u201cI agree that it raises questions.\u201d Julian took the phone. \u201cDad put &hellip; 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