Chapter 7 - What Gretchen Called “Family Money”Gretchen’s attorney arranged a formal interview the next morning.
Dominic was not in the room.
He watched from behind glass with Ava.
Detective Morales placed the Harbor documents on the table.
Gretchen looked at them.
Her expression did not change.
That frightened Dominic.
“Recognize these?”
“Yes.”
Morales paused.
“You’re admitting that easily?”
“They’re family records.”
“Some document unauthorized withdrawals from Archer Harper’s account.”
Gretchen sighed.
“Laura misunderstood.”
Dominic almost laughed.
Dead daughter.
Still being described as confused.
“What did she misunderstand?”
“Her father intended family money to be used for family.”
“Did he authorize you to buy a Mercedes?”
Gretchen’s mouth tightened.
“My vehicle was used constantly for family needs.”
“With Archer’s educational funds?”
“It was reimbursement.”
Morales slid another statement forward.
Luxury hotel in Paris.
Private jewelry purchase.
Home renovation.
“Family needs?”
Gretchen looked away.
Then Morales produced the paternity report.
“Why did you repeatedly tell people Toby might not be Dominic’s biological son?”
Gretchen’s face changed.
Barely.
“I didn’t repeatedly say that.”
“We have Laura’s recording.”
Silence.
“Did you believe Dominic wasn’t Toby’s father?”
Gretchen looked toward the table.
“I had questions.”
“Based on what?”
“My daughter became secretive.”
“About what?”
“Money. Doctors. Everything.”
Morales waited.
Gretchen finally said:
“I thought she was hiding something.”
“The test confirmed paternity.”
“Yes.”
“And yet Archer says you continued telling him Toby was not really his brother.”
Gretchen’s eyes flashed.
“Children misremember.”
Dominic clenched his jaw.
Morales did not react.
“Did you call Toby a bastard yesterday?”
Silence.
“It’s on video.”
Gretchen’s face hardened.
“I lost my temper.”
“Why that word?”
No answer.
“Because you still resented his effect on the trust?”
Gretchen looked up.
There.
Morales saw it.
“You did.”
Gretchen’s attorney interrupted.
“My client has not agreed to speculation.”
Morales nodded.
“Fine. Let’s use records.”
She laid out the original trust.
Toby’s birth moved a legacy block away from the Sloan holding company.
“Did that make you angry?”
Gretchen laughed softly.
“You people keep talking about money like I was stealing from strangers.”
Dominic felt cold.
“They were my grandchildren.”
Morales leaned forward.
“So you believed their money was yours?”
“No.”
“Then explain.”
Gretchen’s voice sharpened.
“My husband built that estate. Laura inherited because he adored her. Archer was a child. Toby wasn’t even born. I spent thirty years beside Malcolm while he built everything.”
“And?”
“And after he died, suddenly accountants and lawyers were telling me I needed permission to touch assets I helped create.”
There it was.
Entitlement.
Not desperation.
Not confusion.
Ownership.
“My daughter treated me like an employee.”
“She caught you taking money.”
“I used money.”
“Without permission.”
“She would’ve approved if she wasn’t being influenced by Dominic.”
Dominic stared through the glass.
Gretchen had rewritten Laura’s resistance into his influence.
Again.
Morales asked:
“What did Conrad Bell do?”
Gretchen went silent.
“Did he help you process withdrawals?”
“I want to stop.”
“Did he help forge Laura’s signature?”
“I said I want to stop.”
Her attorney nodded.
Interview ended.
But Gretchen had already given them something valuable.
She did not see the money as theft.
She saw herself as wrongfully excluded.
That made years of behavior make sense.
The children’s accounts were not sacred to her.
They were family assets she believed should remain under adult control.
Her control.
Later, Dominic sat with Archer at the kitchen table.
The boy had asked why police kept talking about his account.
Dominic tried to simplify.
“Your grandfather left money meant to help you when you’re older.”
“For college?”
“Yes. And other things.”
“Grandma took it?”
“Some.”
“Why?”
“She believed she had a right to.”
Archer frowned.
“But she didn’t.”
“No.”
“Then she stole.”
Dominic nodded.
“Yes.”
Archer thought.
Then:
“Did she hate Toby because he got money?”
Dominic felt the question.
“I think Toby’s birth changed things she wanted to control.”
“That’s stupid.”
“Yes.”
“Babies don’t decide trusts.”
“No.”
Archer looked toward Toby playing on a padded mat with stacking blocks.
Then quietly:
“She said Mom should’ve stopped after me.”
Dominic’s throat tightened.
“When?”
“Before Toby’s birthday.”
“What exactly?”
“That Mom had everything she needed when it was just me.”
Dominic closed his eyes.
Gretchen had been trying to make Archer feel chosen.
Special.
Maybe separate him from Toby.
“Did that make you feel good?”
Archer looked ashamed.
“A little.”
Dominic understood.
Children could be manipulated through love as easily as fear.
“That doesn’t make you bad.”
Archer looked up.
“I know.”
Dominic smiled sadly.
“Good.”
“I figured out she wanted me to be mean to Toby.”
“When?”
“When she kept saying he took Mom away.”
Dominic went still.
“What?”
“She said Mom got sick because Toby was born.”
The medical truth was more complicated.
Laura’s clotting complications were postpartum related, but Toby did not cause her death.
A baby did not kill his mother by existing.
“Did you believe that?”
“At first.”
Archer’s eyes filled.
“Then I hated myself.”
“Why?”
“Because sometimes I wished Toby wasn’t here.”
Dominic’s heart broke.
Not because Archer admitted it.
Because Gretchen had given an eight-year-old a guilt too large to carry.
He moved beside him.
“Listen.”
Archer wiped his face.
“Your mom loved Toby.”
“I know.”
“She loved you.”
“I know.”
“Nothing about Toby being born makes him responsible for what happened to her.”
Archer started crying.
Dominic held him.
For several minutes, neither said anything.
Then Archer whispered:
“Grandma said if Toby wasn’t here, Mom might still be.”
Dominic closed his eyes.
There was the deepest cruelty.
Not the money.
Not the camera.
Gretchen had been trying to split two brothers by turning grief into blame.
And Dominic had been too distracted to hear it happening.
His phone rang.
Ava.
“We found Conrad.”
Dominic stood.
“Where?”
“He didn’t run far.”
“What happened?”
“He checked into a private hospital under his middle name.”
“Why?”
“Panic attack.”
Dominic almost laughed at the irony.
Then Ava added:
“He says he wants to cooperate.”
“Against Gretchen?”
“Yes.”
“Why now?”
Ava paused.
“Because he says Gretchen has another plan involving custody of the boys.”
Dominic’s expression changed.
“What plan?”
“According to Conrad, the camera incident wasn’t only abuse.”
May you like
Ava’s voice became colder.
“She’d been trying to create evidence that you were an unsafe father.”
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