Chapter 4: The Price of Looking Away
Steven sank onto the porch step.
Amber remained beside the car, one hand wrapped around the door handle.
“You tricked me,” he said.
Amber laughed once.
“You sign whatever is placed in front of you.
That is not a trick.
That is your habit.”
I gripped the doorway.
“And humiliating me was what—another habit?”
“You needed to understand your place.”
“In the restroom?”
“In the past,” Amber said.
“Steven and I are building something bigger than you.”
Daniel placed himself between us.
“Take your father and leave.”
Martin pointed at Steven.
“If he speaks against my daughter, every questionable expense on that company card becomes his responsibility.”
Steven looked up sharply.
“You said those charges were authorized.”
“I said they could be explained.”
Amber opened the car door.
“Restore everything by nine tomorrow morning, Margaret, or Steven loses more than his allowance.”
They drove away with Ellis in the back seat.
Daniel waited until their taillights disappeared before turning to my son.
“How much did you spend?” he asked.
Steven named a figure so large that I had to grip the doorframe with both hands.
“That paid for three employees’ annual salaries,” I said.
“Mom, I can explain.”
“Did you ever tell Amber no?”
His eyes finally met mine.
“Did you ever tell me you loved me without solving something with money?”
The words bent me more than Amber’s laughter had.
My knees weakened, and Daniel caught my arm before I reached the floor.
“Don’t use an old wound to excuse a new betrayal,” Daniel said.
Steven covered his face.
“After Dad left, she worked every night.
If I complained, she bought me something.
Then Amber came along and made me feel chosen.”
I lowered myself into the hall chair.
“And to feel chosen by her, you let her make me feel worthless.”
“Yes.” His answer was barely audible.
“I did.”
The painful truth sat between us.
Steven began to cry, but I could not reach for him.
Daniel’s phone rang.
He answered, listened, then switched it to speaker.
A woman’s voice filled the hallway.
“Mr.
Price?
This is Claire Nolan from First Provincial Bank.
A temporary order has been filed preventing Margaret Hale from moving company assets.”
“On what grounds?” Daniel asked.
“Questions concerning her capacity and possible financial misconduct.”
I stood so quickly the chair scraped the wall.
“My capacity?”
Steven’s head came up.
“Amber has been telling people Mom is confused.”
Claire continued, “The filing includes statements from two company directors and a family member.”
“What family member?” I asked.
Silence followed.
Steven rose unsteadily.
“Not me.”
An email arrived on Daniel’s phone.
He opened the attachment and turned the screen toward us.
Beneath the statement claiming I had become forgetful, unstable, and unable to manage company affairs was the name of the person who had signed it.
Steven Hale.
“I never wrote that,” he said.
Daniel enlarged the signature.
“It matches the witness page.”
Steven stared at it.
“Then she didn’t just cover one document.”
My own phone lit up with an alert from the company security system.
ACCESS CREDENTIALS REVOKED.
Daniel tried his account.
His screen flashed red.
“Margaret,” he said, “someone has locked both of us out.”
Then Steven’s phone rang.
Amber’s name appeared, but when he answered, Martin spoke.
May you like
“Be at the board meeting at nine,” Martin said.
“Your mother won’t be leaving it as president.”
