Chapter 6 - Bernice’s SilenceThaddeus wanted to know why Bernice had not spoken sooner.
He hated himself for wanting to ask.
He asked anyway.
They sat in the kitchen after Grayson went to bed.
Bernice kept both hands around a mug she was not drinking.
“You knew Caroline was afraid of Tabitha.”
“Yes.”
“You kept the box.”
“Yes.”
“You saw Tabitha controlling Grayson before.”
Bernice looked down.
“Not like yesterday.”
“What did you see?”
“She was harsh.”
“How harsh?”
“Standing in corners.”
“Taking toys.”
“Saying things about his mother.”
Thaddeus’s jaw tightened.
“What things?”
“That Mrs. Rowan caused family problems.”
“That your wife thought she was better than everyone.”
“And you didn’t tell me?”
Bernice’s eyes filled.
“I tried.”
“When?”
“Two years ago.”
Thaddeus frowned.
“I don’t remember.”
“You were in Houston.”
“I called.”
“Tabitha answered your personal line.”
Thaddeus felt cold.
“What?”
Bernice continued:
“She said you were in meetings and asked what happened.”
“I told her she had frightened Grayson.”
“She said she would handle it.”
“And?”
“She told me later you said I was overstepping.”
Thaddeus stared.
“I never said that.”
Bernice nodded.
“I know now.”
Then:
“After that, I stopped going through her.”
“Why?”
Bernice laughed bitterly.
“Because she was your sister.”
“You trusted her.”
“I trusted that you trusted her.”
The sentence hurt.
Authority traveled.
Thaddeus gave Tabitha credibility.
Everyone below him treated that credibility as instruction.
Bernice continued:
“Mrs. Rowan used to challenge her.”
“After Mrs. Rowan died…”
She paused.
“There was no one.”
Thaddeus looked away.
He should have been the one.
Bernice said:
“You were grieving.”
“That doesn’t change what Grayson needed.”
“No.”
She did not absolve him.
Good.
Then Bernice admitted something else.
Tabitha had sometimes intercepted mail addressed to Thaddeus.
“What mail?”
“Bank notices.”
“Attorney letters.”
“How do you know?”
“I saw her sort them.”
“Did she open them?”
“Some.”
Thaddeus stood.
“That’s not normal.”
“I know.”
“Why didn’t you say something?”
“I asked once.”
“What did she tell you?”
Bernice looked ashamed.
“She said you gave her authority.”
Thaddeus sat again.
Of course.
Same tool.
Thaddeus approved.
Thaddeus knows.
Thaddeus said.
Tabitha had built power by speaking in her brother’s name.
Later that night, Laura examined archived correspondence.
Several trust statements had been redirected from Thaddeus’s office to Briarwood.
Then marked electronic only.
The email associated with the online account had changed.
From Thaddeus’s address.
To a family administration address Tabitha controlled.
“How long?” Thaddeus asked.
“Thirty-one months.”
Almost exactly since Caroline’s death.
The moment Caroline disappeared—
Tabitha shut the remaining windows.
Then Maya called with another discovery.
The notary, Evelyn March, had agreed to an interview through counsel.
She admitted the May 14 notarization had not happened as recorded.
Thaddeus felt his jaw tighten.
“Did she sign for Caroline?”
“Not exactly.”
Evelyn claimed Tabitha brought completed signature pages to her.
Said Thaddeus and Caroline had signed in Atlanta but needed Alabama acknowledgment for filing.
Evelyn knew that was improper.
She notarized anyway.
For $5,000.
Thaddeus closed his eyes.
“What did she say about the signatures?”
“She says she never saw either of you sign.”
“So she can’t prove Tabitha forged them.”
“No.”
“But she proves the notarization was false.”
“Yes.”
Then Maya added:
“She kept something.”
“What?”
“A text from Tabitha.”
Maya read:
Don’t worry about Caroline. She won’t be around long enough to challenge this, and Thaddeus never reads anything twice.
Silence.
Thaddeus felt physically ill.
Caroline was dying.
Tabitha knew it.
She had built part of her plan around the assumption that a dying woman would run out of time.
That was more than theft.
It was patience used as a weapon.
Thaddeus went upstairs.
Grayson was asleep.
He sat beside the bed.
For three years, Thaddeus had told himself Caroline’s death happened too fast for anyone to prepare.
Now he realized Tabitha had prepared very carefully.
May you like
She prepared for Caroline to be gone.
And for Thaddeus to remain too broken to look.
Related Stories
