Chapter 10 - “Your Mother Chose Me”The footage appeared seven months after Rebecca’s death.
Elsie was six.
She sat on the foyer floor with a doll.
Helena brushed her hair.
“Daddy is going to dinner.”
“With who?”
“A friend.”
“Lady friend?”
Helena smiled.
“Maybe.”
Elsie frowned.
“Is she coming here?”
“Not if you don’t want.”
Past Elsie looked worried.
Helena leaned closer.
“Your mommy chose me to look after this house.”
Modern Elsie gripped Graham’s hand.
On-screen Helena continued.
“She knew other women might come around.”
“Why?”
“Because men get lonely.”
Elsie looked confused.
“Daddy has us.”
Helena smiled.
“That’s different.”
Then:
“Your mommy asked me to make sure nobody replaced her.”
Graham paused the footage.
Elsie whispered:
“She lied.”
“Yes.”
“How do you know?”
“Because Mom never asked her that.”
“You weren’t there.”
Graham understood the challenge.
“No.”
He opened Rebecca’s memorandum.
“She wrote about exactly this fear.”
He showed her age-appropriate wording.
Rebecca wanted the children to feel safe if Graham eventually built a new life.
One line read:
If Graham loves someone someday, I hope the children never believe that love replaces me.
Elsie stared.
Her eyes filled.
“Mom said that?”
“Yes.”
“So she wouldn’t be mad?”
“No.”
“At Dad?”
“No.”
Elsie leaned against him.
Graham cried.
Helena had used Rebecca’s memory as a leash.
Now Rebecca’s actual words cut it.
The archive revealed more.
Helena reacting badly whenever Graham mentioned dating.
Not openly.
Subtle.
“She seems very career-focused.”
“Julian didn’t sleep after you went out.”
“Elsie asked if she’ll have to move rooms.”
None of those statements were entirely false.
But Helena selected and framed them to make dating feel dangerous.
Graham had stopped.
He told himself the children weren’t ready.
Maybe they weren’t.
But he now wondered how much of that conclusion belonged to Helena.
A clip from fourteen months earlier showed Helena talking to Adrian.
“Graham isn’t dating anymore.”
Adrian laughed.
“Congratulations.”
“Don’t.”
“You wanted the house stable.”
“I wanted the children stable.”
“Same difference.”
Helena’s face hardened.
“No.”
That was interesting.
Not everything she did was only money.
Graham watched.
Helena continued:
“If he marries, I’m gone.”
There.
Raw.
Adrian shrugged.
“You’re sixty-one. Maybe retire.”
Helena glared.
“To what?”
“Your house.”
“My house is forty minutes away.”
“So?”
Helena looked around the Denver foyer.
Modern Graham felt cold.
On-screen Helena whispered:
“This is my life.”
Adrian looked uncomfortable.
“It isn’t your house, Mom.”
“It was more mine than Rebecca’s by the end.”
Graham paused.
Anger surged.
But Adrian’s response mattered.
“That’s insane.”
Helena stared at him.
Adrian continued:
“You work here.”
“I raised those children.”
“You helped.”
“I was here when Graham wasn’t.”
Adrian shook his head.
“Don’t say that around him.”
Helena’s eyes narrowed.
“Why?”
“Because you sound like you think you own them.”
The clip ended.
Graham sat back.
Adrian was financially compromised.
But he was not identical to Helena.
That mattered.
Easy stories would make every conspirator equally monstrous.
Reality rarely did.
Adrian may have profited from Helena’s reports without understanding the abuse behind them.
Still culpable.
Different.
Lydia’s financial team confirmed Red Canyon had received no payments yet for Julian because enrollment never occurred.
Adrian’s companies had received consulting money, yes.
His private debt to Elias had been repaid during the same period.
Whether Elias demanded this arrangement or simply benefited remained under investigation.
Then Adrian requested to meet Graham.
Lydia advised counsel present.
Adrian arrived nervous.
“I didn’t know my mother was restraining Julian.”
Graham stared.
“Did you know she provoked him?”
“No.”
“Did you know reports came only from her?”
“Yes.”
“Did that bother you?”
“It should have.”
“Did it?”
Adrian looked down.
“Not enough.”
Good.
“What did you think was happening?”
“That she was overwhelmed.”
“With my son?”
“Yes.”
“And you evaluated him without authorization.”
“I called it consultation.”
“That is not better.”
“I know.”
Graham leaned forward.
“Why Red Canyon?”
Adrian answered:
“Because I own twelve percent.”
No hiding.
“And because Julian needed it?”
“I thought he might.”
“Based on what?”
“Reports.”
“Your mother’s.”
“Yes.”
“Did you ever ask Julian what happened?”
Adrian looked ashamed.
“No.”
“Then you weren’t assessing him.”
Silence.
“You were assessing whether he fit a product you sold.”
Adrian swallowed.
“Yes.”
That admission mattered.
Then Graham asked:
“Did Elias know about your ownership?”
“Yes.”
“Your debt?”
“Yes.”
“Did he ever connect trust payments to repayment?”
Adrian hesitated.
“Not directly.”
“What did he say?”
“That if the trust work increased, I’d have no excuse missing payments.”
There.
Not explicit kickback.
But pressure.
Conflict.
Adrian continued.
“I should have walked away.”
“Yes.”
“I didn’t.”
“No.”
Then Graham asked:
“Did my wife confront you?”
Adrian’s face changed.
“Yes.”
“What did she say?”
“That Julian was not a revenue stream.”
Graham closed his eyes.
Exactly Rebecca.
“Anything else?”
“She told me my mother was becoming obsessed.”
“Obsessed with what?”
Adrian looked toward the door.
“With being necessary.”
Graham stared.
Adrian continued.
“Rebecca said Mom wasn’t trying to replace her romantically.”
“Obviously.”
“I know.”
“She said it was something else.”
“What?”
Adrian swallowed.
“She thought Mom wanted to become the only person in the house nobody could function without.”
That described everything.
Then Adrian added:
“Rebecca asked me whether Mom had ever told me about Denver First National.”
Graham frowned.
“What is that?”
“An old bank.”
“What did it have to do with Helena?”
Adrian looked confused.
“I don’t know.”
“Why would Rebecca ask?”
“She said she found a payment record from 2008.”
Graham went still.
Before Julian was born.
Before Rebecca became ill.
Before the children’s trust.
May you like
Helena’s entanglement with the family had started much earlier.
And apparently Rebecca had discovered money moving between Helena and someone connected to Graham fifteen years before her death.
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