PART7
I hesitated.
“Twenty-one million.”
She stared at me.
“Dad…”
“I know.”
“That can’t be real.”
“It is.”
She stood and walked toward the window.
For several seconds, she didn’t say anything.
Then she turned around.
“Dad, I don’t want twenty-one million dollars.”
I almost laughed.
“You don’t?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because I don’t want money to destroy our family.”
I looked at her.
“Money didn’t destroy our family.”
She frowned.
“Then what did?”
I answered quietly.
“People did.”
That evening, Richard arrived at the hospital again.
This time, he came alone.
He didn’t bring Caroline.
He didn’t bring a lawyer.
He closed the door behind him and stood at the foot of my bed.
“Dad, can we talk?”
I nodded.
He sat down.
For nearly a minute, he said nothing.
Then he whispered:
“I knew.”
I looked at him.
“About the property?”
He nodded.
“I knew it might become valuable.”
“How long?”
“Before the agreement.”
I felt the room grow colder.
“Did you know about the payments?”
He looked away.
“What payments?”
“Don’t lie to me.”
His eyes returned to mine.
Larry had been right.
Richard wasn’t prepared for this conversation.
“I didn’t personally receive all of it.”
“That wasn’t my question.”
He swallowed.
“Some money went to Mom.”
“Why?”
“She needed it.”
“For what?”
“Bills.”
“Seven hundred twenty-five thousand dollars in bills?”
He said nothing.
I watched my son struggle to maintain the image he had spent years building.
Finally, he whispered:
“I thought I was doing what was best for everyone.”
“No.”
His eyes filled.
“I thought I could protect the property.”
“You were protecting your future.”
“Yes.”
The admission came so quietly I almost missed it.
I looked away.
“Why didn’t you just tell me?”
“Because I was afraid you’d sell it.”
“And?”
“I wanted to be the one who handled the development.”
I nodded slowly.
“So you didn’t trust me.”
“No.”
“And you expected me to trust you.”
He looked down.
“Yes.”
I closed my eyes.
The disappointment hurt more than the betrayal.
Then Richard said something I didn’t expect.
“I need to tell you something else.”
I opened my eyes.
“What?”
He took a deep breath.
“The $12 million deal I told you about…”
He stopped.
“It’s failing.”
I stared at him.
“How bad?”
“If I can’t close the financing within two weeks, I lose the company.”
“And that’s why you need the property.”
He nodded.
“I thought I could use my share of the development opportunity as collateral.”
“You don’t have a share.”
“I know.”
He looked at me.
“That’s why I’m asking you.”
I waited.
“For what?”
He reached into his jacket and placed a document on my bedside table.
“A loan.”
I looked at the document.
He wanted me to sign a loan agreement using the Rosenberg property as collateral.
I almost couldn’t believe it.
“You refused to give me $3,200.”
“I know.”
“And now you’re asking me to risk twenty-one million dollars to save your company.”
“I’ll repay you.”
“When?”
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