— For the family.
— It’s not the same thing.
Margaret tapped her cup softly against the table.
— Everything was for you.
— No!
David took a breath.
Lowered his voice.
— No.
— That is exactly the phrase you always use.
— Everything for you.
— Everything for the family.
— And then no one can say no because it looks like ingratitude.
Margaret:
— You don't know what it was like after your father died.
— Yes, I do know.
— He was my father.
— He was my husband for forty years.
— And he left me a trust as if I were a temporary accountant until you turned thirty-six.
There it was.
The wound.
— You felt replaced.
— I felt degraded.
— Dad chose the structure.
— Your father trusted me to build alongside him, but not to continue alone.
— So you wanted to prove something.
Margaret:
— I wanted you to receive something bigger when you assumed control.
— Not a museum of Henry's decisions.
David:
— And when the investment failed?
— I needed months.
— Your birthday was coming up.
— Yes.
— Did you forge my election?
Margaret looked at the floor.
— I used a signature from a previous document.
David stood frozen.
— That is forgery.
— The intention was to correct it later.
— There is no such thing as temporary forgery.
— I wasn't going to steal from you.
— You used my signature.
Margaret:
— I only needed until December.
— Then why did the document say five years?
— It was a standard form.
David laughed.
— Right.
— And Claire.
Margaret closed her eyes.
— Claire received a letter.
— What letter?
— From the trustee.
— She asked about it.
— I told her that you had agreed.
— Then she got sick.
— And you decided to take advantage of it?
— No.
— Not at first.
Unvoluntary honesty.
Not at first.
David:
— When did you?
Margaret wept.
— When the project manager called me.
— They needed another two million, or the banks were going to pull out.
— I knew that if you came back and reviewed the accounts, you would close it down.
— Yes.
— And I thought…
— What?
— That if Claire was sick, you would return.
— Of course.
— You would abandon your assignment if you could.