The Brother Who Smiled Too Easily
Chapter 06 - The Brother Who Smiled Too Easily
Charles Whitmore arrived at the Hale mansion that afternoon.
He was seventy years old, silver-haired and impeccably dressed.
He smiled when he saw Richard.
Then he saw Ethan.
The smile disappeared.
"You."
Ethan noticed.
So did Richard.
Charles recovered quickly.
"I heard someone was making strange claims at the store."
"They're not claims," Richard said.
"This is Emma's husband."
Charles looked at Lily.
For a fraction of a second, fear crossed his face.
"Then the child..."
"My granddaughter."
Charles sat down slowly.
Richard placed Emma's letter on the table.
"I want the truth."
Charles barely looked at it.
"Emma was unstable."
Ethan stood so quickly his chair scraped the floor.
"Don't."
Charles looked at him.
"Excuse me?"
"You don't get to talk about my wife that way."
Richard surprised them both.
"He's right."
Charles stared at his brother.
For the first time in decades, Richard was no longer automatically taking his side.
"What exactly are you accusing me of?"
Richard placed the fake bank records beside the letter.
"Did you create these?"
Charles laughed.
"Of course not."
"Then you won't mind if I have them examined."
Silence.
Just one second too long.
Ethan saw it.
Richard saw it.
Charles stood.
"This family has suffered enough because of Emma's bad decisions."
Ethan stepped toward him.
"My wife wasn't a bad decision."
Charles headed for the door.
Before leaving, he turned toward Richard.
"Be careful, brother. Grief makes people believe what they want to believe."
Then he left.
That evening, Richard's attorney called.
The fifty-thousand-dollar payment had indeed existed.
But it had not gone to Ethan.
May you like
The money had been transferred into an account controlled by someone else.
Someone whose initials were C.W.
