Chapter 6 - The Second Life in Rebecca’s NameRachel arrived at Eleanor's house an hour later.
Brooke came with her.
Graham didn't.
Rebecca asked why.
Rachel's answer was simple.
“He left.”
Rebecca's stomach tightened.
“Where?”
“He packed a bag.”
“You let him?”
“I am not law enforcement.”
“Did he take anything?”
“We don't know yet.”
Brooke looked terrified.
“He'll go to the office.”
“Why?”
“Because that's where he keeps the second phone.”
Rebecca stared.
“What second phone?”
Brooke closed her eyes.
Another secret.
“When we started…”
She struggled with the word.
“The affair?”
“Yes.”
Rebecca's voice was cold.
“Say it.”
Brooke nodded.
“When the affair started, Graham used another phone.”
“Why?”
“He said because of work security.”
“And you believed him?”
“At first.”
Rebecca hated how easy it would be to turn all her anger toward Brooke.
She resisted.
Brooke had betrayed her.
Absolutely.
But Graham had been her husband.
Her promises were with him.
“What did you see?”
“Messages.”
“With who?”
“I don't know. Names were initials.”
“What kind of messages?”
“Banking.”
Rachel stepped closer.
“Did you ever photograph them?”
Brooke looked ashamed.
“Yes.”
Everyone stared.
“Why?”
“Because I started getting scared.”
“When?”
“Three months ago.”
Around Oliver's birthday.
Around the trust transfer.
Brooke opened a hidden folder on her phone.
Screenshots.
Graham had messages with someone labeled E.M.
E.M.: R's credentials still work.
G: She changes passwords when legal tells her.
E.M.: Then get the backup codes.
Another:
G: Transfer has to happen before March 14.
E.M.: Why?
G: Trust triggers after the boy's birthday.
Rebecca's hands went cold.
Oliver's birthday was March 9.
Rachel read quickly.
“What account?”
Brooke showed another screenshot.
A banking dashboard.
Account holder:
Rebecca M. Caldwell.
Rebecca stared.
“I've never seen that account.”
Rachel leaned closer.
“Bank?”
“Atlantic Crest.”
Rebecca shook her head.
“I don't bank there.”
The account had received millions in transfers.
Some from companies she recognized.
Some she didn't.
Then outgoing wires.
Cayman Islands.
Delaware entities.
A Swiss custodial account.
“This isn't just Graham borrowing money,” Rachel said.
“He created accounts in Rebecca's name.”
Eleanor sat heavily.
“Oh God.”
Rebecca looked at her mother.
“You gave him access.”
“I gave him the original loan.”
“You gave him credibility.”
Eleanor cried quietly.
Rebecca turned back to Brooke.
“Why didn't you tell me?”
Brooke's answer was painful.
“Because I was sleeping with him.”
Rebecca looked away.
“At first I thought he was separated emotionally.”
“He told you that?”
“Yes.”
“What else?”
“That you stayed married for Oliver.”
Rebecca laughed bitterly.
“He came home every night and slept beside me.”
“I know.”
“Did you?”
“Not at first.”
Brooke's eyes filled.
“He said separate bedrooms.”
“We haven't had separate bedrooms one night in eight years.”
“I know now.”
“How?”
Brooke hesitated.
“Because I started noticing things.”
Rebecca waited.
“Your clothes.”
“What?”
“In his closet.”
Brooke almost smiled sadly.
“He told me you hadn't shared a room for years, but your things were everywhere.”
Rebecca looked at the closet key sitting on Rachel's file.
“The first lie was obvious.”
“Yes.”
“Yet you stayed.”
Brooke nodded.
Rebecca respected that she didn't make excuses.
“Why?”
“I loved him.”
The answer hurt.
Brooke continued.
“Or I thought I did.”
“And the money?”
“I didn't know until later.”
“When you knew, why stay?”
“Because he had something on me.”
Rebecca frowned.
“What?”
Brooke looked toward Eleanor.
“Your bracelet.”
Rebecca understood.
“He planted it.”
“Yes.”
Graham had put Eleanor's missing bracelet among Brooke's belongings.
He photographed it.
Then threatened that if Brooke exposed him, he would tell police she'd been stealing from the family for months.
“And you believed him?”
“Who would you have believed?”
The question landed.
Rebecca thought of opening the closet.
Before that moment, if Graham had shown her photographs of Brooke with stolen jewelry and claimed the young housekeeper was blackmailing him—
Rebecca might have believed her husband.
Brooke saw the answer.
“Exactly.”
Rachel pointed at the phone.
“Did Graham know you copied these messages?”
“No.”
“Good.”
Brooke looked afraid.
“I think he suspected.”
“Why?”
“Because today he told everyone I was fired.”
Rebecca finally understood.
The firing wasn't simply to hide the affair.
Graham intended to erase Brooke from the house.
From access.
From the family's routine.
Possibly permanently.
“What was supposed to happen after today?” Rebecca asked.
Brooke looked down.
“He bought me a plane ticket.”
“To where?”
“Los Angeles.”
“When?”
“Tonight.”
“Why?”
“He said we'd start over.”
Rebecca stared.
Brooke laughed bitterly.
“I know.”
“But you didn't plan to go?”
“No.”
“Why were you in the bedroom?”
“I came to tell him I wasn't leaving.”
“Then why were your shoes off?”
Brooke flushed.
Rebecca waited.
Brooke answered honestly.
“Because I made another mistake.”
The affair had not ended cleanly.
Rebecca appreciated the truth even while it hurt.
“What happened afterward?”
“He told me if I wouldn't go to California, I needed to disappear anyway.”
“Meaning?”
“He said Rebecca would destroy me when she found out.”
Rebecca almost said he was right.
She stopped herself.
“Then you heard my car.”
“Yes.”
“And he put you in the closet.”
“Yes.”
Rachel's phone rang.
She answered.
Listened.
Her expression changed.
“What?”
She looked at Rebecca.
“I had someone check Graham's office.”
“And?”
“He isn't there.”
“Where did he go?”
“They don't know.”
Rachel paused.
“But someone accessed the Atlantic Crest account twenty minutes ago.”
Rebecca felt cold.
“How much?”
“Two million dollars.”
“Transferred where?”
Rachel looked at the screen.
“An account in Oliver's name.”
Rebecca stared.
“My seven-year-old son?”
“Yes.”
May you like
Graham wasn't just using Rebecca anymore.
He had begun using their child.
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