Chapter 5: The Daughter He Chose
Daniel called the bank while Maya searched the kitchen and Julian checked the bedrooms.
Vanessa and Victor had already driven away in the sports car.
“My online access is locked,” Daniel told the fraud specialist.
“I did not request a home-equity advance.”
“The request carries your electronic signature,” the woman replied.
“My laptop is missing.”
“We can pause the advance for twenty-four hours.
After that, we need a formal dispute and supporting evidence.”
Daniel pressed his palm against the counter.
“What about the college account?”
“The transfer has cleared.”
Maya appeared in the doorway.
“Ask if they can bring it back.”
The specialist heard her.
“We can request a recall, but the receiving account has been emptied.”
Maya gripped the doorframe.
“All of it?”
“I’m sorry.”
Her phone rang before Daniel could reach her.
Vanessa’s name filled the screen.
“Don’t answer,” Daniel said.
Maya pressed the speaker button.
“What do you want?”
“I want you to stop turning Julian against me,” Vanessa said.
“You did that yourself.”
“You have always competed with him.”
“I worked for my grades.
I worked for that money.”
“And Daniel rewarded you because you’re his little girl.”
Daniel stepped closer.
“Vanessa, stop.”
“No, she should hear the truth.
Daniel adopted you when you were three.
He was never obligated to spend eighty-five thousand dollars on you.”
Maya’s knees struck the cabinet.
Daniel caught her before she reached the floor.
“You told me he was my father,” Maya whispered.
“He is legally.
That doesn’t make you more important than my biological son.”
Julian entered behind them.
“Then listen to your biological son.
I choose Dad and Maya.”
Vanessa inhaled sharply.
“Julian—”
“You bought me something shiny and expected me to ignore what you did.”
“I protected you from Victor.”
“You brought Victor back into my life.”
The call ended.
Maya pushed away from Daniel.
“Did you only adopt me because you married her?”
Daniel took her face gently between his hands.
“I met you at a playground.
You gave me half a crushed cookie and asked if I knew how to push a swing.”
A sob escaped her.
“I signed the papers because I wanted to be your father.
Vanessa could leave tomorrow, and that would not change one letter of your name or one day of our life.”
“You still want me?”
“You are my daughter.
That is not a contract she can cancel.”
Maya folded against his chest.
Daniel held her while Julian wrapped both arms around them.
A knock sounded at the front door.
The car salesman from the dealership stood outside with an envelope.
Julian wiped his face.
“Mr.
Mercer?”
“You called about returning the car,” the salesman said.
“Victor tried to collect it from our service lot, but the purchase application listed you as the intended owner.
He also lied about the source of the funds.”
“Can you undo the sale?” Daniel asked.
“We retained our processing fee, but the rest is here.”
He handed Julian a cashier’s check for $31,800.
Julian immediately placed it in Maya’s hands.
“Put this toward tuition.”
“I can’t take your car.”
“It was never my car.
It was your money wearing a red bow.”
Maya clutched the check as tears fell again.
“Thank you.”
Mr.
Mercer cleared his throat.
“There’s something else.
Victor used Daniel’s identification on a second financing application.
I brought copies.”
Daniel spread the papers across the table.
A photograph showed Victor presenting Daniel’s driver’s license, while another page carried a signature that looked almost perfect.
Julian opened the home-security application on his phone.
“The patio camera records the driveway.
Maybe it caught him taking the laptop.”
The footage showed Vanessa leaving with Daniel’s computer.
Then the audio sharpened.
Vanessa’s recorded voice came through the speaker: “Once the second transfer clears, Daniel will have no house, no money, and no way to stop us.”
May you like
A man answered from inside Daniel’s study.
It was not Victor’s voice.
