Chapter 5 - The House on Linden Street
VBL Property Management owned one house.
A renovated colonial on Linden Street in Greenwich.
Daniel discovered it the next morning through a property database Evelyn’s investigator used.
The purchase price had been $1.4 million.
The buyer had paid nearly half in cash.
Daniel sat silently as the investigator, Thomas Reed—not related to Grant’s attorney—placed photographs on the table.
Fresh white siding.
Black shutters.
New kitchen.
Landscaped yard.
The property had been purchased eight months earlier.
Daniel had never seen it.
“Who lives there?” he asked.
“No one officially,” Thomas said. “Utilities are active. Cleaning service comes twice a month.”
“Whose name is on the utilities?”
“VBL.”
Daniel looked at Evelyn.
“Can we prove money from Ethan’s account went there?”
“Not yet.”
“But the transfer?”
“That transfer came from a Mercer Holdings family expense account, not directly from Ethan’s trust.”
Daniel’s frustration sharpened.
“So she stole from me instead of him.”
“Possibly.”
“Does that make it better?”
“No.”
Evelyn turned another page.
“However, BrightPath received funds from Ethan’s trust. BrightPath then paid consulting fees to a company called North Harbor Strategies.”
“And North Harbor?”
“Still tracing.”
Daniel’s phone buzzed.
A message from Victoria.
We need to talk without lawyers poisoning everything.
Daniel ignored it.
A second message appeared.
Mason is upset. You’re frightening him.
That one hurt.
Whatever Victoria had done, Mason was twelve.
He had not created shell companies.
He had not forged signatures.
He was a child caught in the middle.
Daniel returned to the mansion at noon.
Mason was sitting on the staircase.
Victoria was upstairs.
When Mason saw Daniel, he started to stand.
“You don’t have to leave,” Daniel said.
The boy remained uncertain.
“Mom says you’re mad at us.”
“I’m not mad at you.”
Mason looked down.
“She said we might have to move.”
Daniel sat two steps below him.
“Can I ask you something?”
Mason shrugged.
“The red truck.”
The boy stiffened.
“What happened?”
“Nothing.”
“Mason.”
“I said nothing.”
Daniel kept his voice gentle.
“I’m not asking because I want to punish you.”
Mason’s eyes filled.
“I took it.”
“Why?”
“I wanted it.”
“Okay.”
“Ethan said it was his.”
“Was it?”
Mason nodded.
“Then what happened?”
“I told Mom.”
“And?”
Mason wiped his nose with his sleeve.
“She said Ethan stole it from me.”
“Did you tell her that wasn’t true?”
A long silence.
“She already knew.”
Daniel felt something cold settle in his chest.
“How?”
“She saw me take it.”
“Then why did she say Ethan attacked you?”
Mason whispered, “She said it was better if Dad thought Ethan was getting worse.”
Daniel frowned.
“What dad?”
“You.”
The word struck him unexpectedly.
Mason rarely called him Dad.
Usually Daniel.
Sometimes Mr. Mercer when he was angry.
Daniel swallowed.
“What else did she tell you?”
Mason began twisting the hem of his shirt.
“That if Ethan went to a special school, things would be easier.”
“For who?”
“For everybody.”
“Did she say where?”
“No.”
“Did she ever ask you to say Ethan hurt you?”
Mason looked toward the hallway.
Daniel followed his gaze.
No one was there.
Mason leaned closer.
“Three times.”
Daniel did not move.
“What happened those times?”
“The broken lamp.”
Daniel remembered it.
Victoria had said Ethan knocked it over during a meltdown.
“He didn’t break it?”
“I did.”
“What else?”
“The scratch on Mom’s car.”
Daniel closed his eyes.
“And the kitchen window?”
Mason started crying.
“That was me too.”
Daniel put one hand on his shoulder.
Mason flinched at first.
Then he stayed.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Mom said if I didn’t help, you’d send us away.”
Daniel’s anger toward Victoria became suddenly more complicated.
She had not merely been targeting Ethan.
She had recruited her own son into the lie.
Footsteps sounded above them.
Victoria stood at the top of the stairs.
Her face was white with fury.
“Mason. Upstairs.”
The boy froze.
“Mason can stay,” Daniel said.
“I am his mother.”
“And I’m talking to him.”
“You are interrogating a child.”
“No. I’m finally listening to one.”
Victoria descended the stairs slowly.
“Mason, go.”
Mason looked at Daniel.
Then at his mother.
He stood and went upstairs.
Victoria waited until his bedroom door closed.
“What did you say to him?”
Daniel almost smiled at the absurdity.
“What did I say to him?”
“You are manipulating him because you’re angry with me.”
“You told him to lie about Ethan.”
“That is not what happened.”
“He just told me.”
“He’s confused.”
“Convenient.”
Victoria stepped closer.
“Daniel, you have been gone half of this marriage.”
“And while I was gone, you built a case against my son.”
Her eyes narrowed.
“You have no idea what I’ve dealt with.”
“I’m starting to.”
Daniel took out a photograph of the Linden Street house.
For the first time, Victoria completely lost control of her expression.
He held it between them.
“Should we talk about what you’ve been dealing with there?”
Victoria stared at the image.
Then, very slowly, she smiled.
It was not relief.
It was not fear.
It was calculation.
“You really don’t know,” she said.
“Know what?”
“That house isn’t mine.”
Daniel’s confidence faltered.
May you like
Victoria leaned closer.
“It belongs to your brother.”
