Bethany barely moved, but Chloe saw the hesitation.
"You knew," Chloe said.
"You do not know me well enough to read my face."
"My mother taught me: frightened people can look calm when they lie."
Arthur appeared. "What did you find?"
Henry explained.
Arthur went still. "The payment came from Evelyn's account?"
"Yes, it was marked as settlement of personal debt."
Arthur turned to Bethany. "Whose debt?"
She remained silent.
Arthur answered himself: "Your husband's."
Henry looked at his mother.
Bethany closed her eyes. "I was pregnant."
Henry stared at her.
"With you," she added.
Arthur had opposed the relationship because Bethany's boyfriend was reckless and deeply in debt; she feared Arthur would separate them if he knew everything.
"Megan found out I was pregnant before anyone," Bethany said. "She was the person I trusted."
"And she helped you?" Chloe said.
Bethany nodded. "She went to Evelyn."
"My grandmother transferred the money?" Henry asked.
"Yes, to settle the debt before Arthur found out."
Arthur's jaw tightened. "Then why name Megan?"
"Because you discovered the missing money and started asking questions! I panicked! You gave me her name! I was afraid!"
Chloe stepped forward. "And Megan stayed silent because telling the truth would expose your pregnancy."
Henry opened one of Evelyn's old ledgers. Beside the transfer amount was a handwritten note: Requested by Megan. Underneath it was another line: To protect B.
Arthur sat slowly. For almost 30 years, the truth had been resting inside his own house, simply ignored.
Chloe closed the ledger. "Everyone protected the person who was still standing in this house."
Bethany flinched.
"My mother was the only person everyone decided could be lost."
Chloe took Megan's letter and walked outside. Henry followed.
"I was wrong about you," he said.