He has spent his entire life believing the truth is something that can be owned.
It cannot.
Years ago, when you were seven years old, you found something in your father’s desk.
I looked up.
Claire was crying now.
“I remember.”
“What did you find?”
“A notebook.”
Daniel went still.
“The ledger,” he whispered.
Claire nodded.
“I thought it was Dad’s.”
She explained.
One summer when she was seven, she had accompanied Robert to the lake house.
That revelation alone stunned me.
“You went there?”
“Twice.”
Robert had told me Claire was staying with a school friend.
My daughter looked ashamed.
“He told me it was a surprise.”
I could barely process it.
Claire continued.
“I found a notebook under a loose floorboard. Dad got really upset. He took it away and made me promise never to tell anyone.”
Samuel stepped forward.
“Where did Robert put it?”
Michael blocked him.
