– What is this?
Daniel ran his finger across the paper.
– The money that disappeared from our account.
– So what?
Daniel looked at her.
– I thought it was you who asked me for money.
Ava turned pale.
– And?
– No.
For a few seconds, no one spoke.
Finally Daniel took out his phone.
“Eighteen thousand dollars,” he said.
Ava took a step back.
– This…
– Where is this money?
– I don’t know.
Daniel looked through more documents.
– There is something else.
At the bottom of one of the pages was a note:
“The transfers were not made for Ava’s purposes. All funds went to a third party.”
Daniel felt himself going cold.
– What person?
Then his phone rang.
Numer Renee Caldwell.
He picked up.
– Halo?
– Mr. Whitmore, Megan asked me to inform you of something immediately.
Daniel remained silent.
– We have copies of messages, recordings, and financial documents that indicate your wife has been trying for months to determine where the joint money was going.
– Why didn’t she tell me about it?
Renee replied calmly:
– Because every time she tried to talk to you, someone warned her that it was better not to.
Daniel looked at Ava.
– Who?
– That’s what your wife was trying to determine.
The connection has been terminated.
The next morning Daniel woke up at five.
He didn’t sleep almost all night.
He searched through his computer, old messages and bills.
Finally he found something he hadn’t noticed before.
Ava’s Calendar.
For the past eight months, almost every Thursday evening she had typed:
“Meeting – 7:30 PM.”
No address.
Without a name.
Daniel always assumed it was about school or friends.
This time he called his daughter.
– Ava, where were you on Thursdays?
– With friends.
– With which ones?
– Tato, seriously?
– Z kim?
Ava looked at him and for the first time did not answer immediately.
– With no one.
Daniel saw fear in her eyes.
“Ava, I’m not asking as your father who wants to punish you. I’m asking because someone has been using our money for months.”
– It wasn’t me.
– I know.
Ava froze.
– Co?
– I know it’s not you.
A tear rolled down her cheek.
– This…
– Tell me the truth.
Ava sat down.
She looked at the floor for a few seconds.
– Megan knew.
Daniel felt a knot in his stomach.
– What did she know?
– About money.
– Since when?
– For a long time.
– And that’s why you don’t like her?
Ava shook her head.
– NO.
– So why?
The girl clenched her hands.
– Because I was afraid he would tell you the truth.
Daniel stopped breathing.
– What truth?
Ava looked him straight in the eyes.
– I was the one who told her to leave.
Three hours later we were sitting across from each other in Renee’s office.
Daniel looked completely different than the day before.
He was no longer angry.
He was tired.
Ava sat next to him and looked at the floor.
Renee placed the briefcase in front of them.
“Megan didn’t want to file for divorce right away,” she said. “She was trying to understand what was happening first.”
Daniel looked at me.
– Why didn’t you tell me anything?
– I tried.
– When?
– Many times.
I opened my laptop.
– Remember the night I asked you about a six thousand dollar transfer?
Daniel nodded.
– You said it was money for Ava’s school.
Ava closed her eyes.
– Then I found a message from a number I didn’t recognize.
I showed the screen.
This was news from seven months ago.
“If you really care about Daniel, stop asking questions.”
Daniel took a deep breath.
– Why didn’t you show it to me?
– Because the next day I got another one.
I moved the screen.
“If you tell Daniel, Ava will lose her father.”
Daniel looked at his daughter.
Ava started crying.
“I didn’t write that,” she whispered.
“I know,” I replied.
– Megan…
– But you knew who was doing it.
Ava nodded.
– No.
– Who?
Ava looked at her father.
– Your sister, Rachel.
Daniel froze.
Rachel was the person he trusted the most.
She helped him after his divorce from his first wife.
She helped with Ava.
She was with him when he met me.
She was the one who told him he should “protect his family.”
And she has had access to some of the financial documents for the last two years.
Renee presented the evidence.
Rachel set up an account where the money was deposited.
But the worst thing was something else.
The transfers were not theft for the sake of theft.
Rachel used them to pay off her own debts.
And when Megan started discovering the truth, she used Ava.
The girl was fourteen when Rachel told her:
– If your father finds out that Megan wants to take his money, everything will fall apart.
Ava believed.
So she started pushing me away.
She ignored me.
She invented situations.
And when Rachel realized that Megan was starting to discover the truth after all, she gave Ava another idea.
– If you show that Megan is aggressive, her father won’t believe her.
Daniel covered his face with his hand.
– God…
Ava was crying.
– Sorry.
I looked at her.
For three years I wanted to hear at least one sincere “sorry” from her.
But when I finally heard them, I felt no satisfaction.
I felt sad.
– Why did you say yesterday that I pushed you?
Ava was silent for a long time.
“Because Rachel said if I did it convincingly enough, Dad would finally throw you out of the house.”
Daniel jerked his head up.
– Rachel told you that?
Ava nodded.
“I wanted you to stay,” she whispered to me. “But I was afraid.”
Those words hurt more than her scream at the barbecue.
In the evening Daniel went alone to Rachel’s.
I don’t know what exactly happened between them.
All I know is that the next day the police processed the financial documents and Renee began formal investigations.
Rachel pleaded guilty to some of the charges.
She no longer tried to hide everything.
But one thing remained between me and Daniel.
Marriage.
We lived apart for several weeks.
Daniel would sometimes come to my door.
He didn’t ask me to come back.
He didn’t explain himself.
He simply said:
– I know I disappointed you.
One evening he said something else.
– I should have asked what happened that day.
I was silent.
“I should have looked at you and known you well enough to know you wouldn’t hurt Ava.”
Tears appeared in my eyes.
– But you didn’t do it.
– I know.
– You chose her words over mine.
Daniel nodded.
– And I will regret it for the rest of my life.
Three months have passed.
Ava came to my new apartment.
She was standing in front of the door with a small box in her hands.
– Can I come in?
I let her in.
We sat down at the table.
She handed me a box.
Inside was my gold bracelet.
The same one I left on the table during the barbecue.
“Dad found it at home,” she said. “He said he should throw it away, but he couldn’t.”
I looked at the bracelet.
– Why did you bring it to me?
Ava lowered her gaze.
