Margaret looked away.
“I suspected.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
The woman sighed.
“Because your father asked me not to.”
Elena froze.
“My father?”
Margaret nodded.
“He was embarrassed. He didn’t want his children fighting over him.”
Elena looked confused.
“Then why did you allow changes to his accounts?”
“I didn’t.”
The answer came immediately.
“I retired two years ago. I transferred everything to the new management arrangement your brother requested.”
“Did you approve it?”
“No.”
“Then who did?”
Margaret opened her bag and removed a folder.
“I kept copies because something didn’t feel right.”
Inside were letters.
Emails.
Notes.
Elena read carefully.
The documents showed that Thomas had questioned several financial decisions. He had asked for explanations. He had requested meetings.
But every request had somehow been delayed.
Someone had been controlling the information reaching him.
“Why didn’t you report it?”
Margaret looked ashamed.
“I made a mistake.”
Elena waited.
“I assumed your father was choosing to let Julian manage things. I thought it was a family arrangement.”
“And later?”
“Later, I realized your father wasn’t being included in decisions about his own life.”
Elena closed the folder.
“Thank you for coming.”
Margaret looked at her.
“Your father always spoke highly of you.”
Elena smiled sadly.
“He shouldn’t have had to.”
When Elena returned home, Thomas was sitting outside in the garden.
The morning sun warmed the wooden chair beside him.
He looked peaceful.
For the first time since she arrived, he looked like himself.
“Margaret told me some things.”
Thomas nodded.
“I know.”
“You knew?”
“I asked her to keep records.”
Elena sat beside him.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
Thomas was quiet for a long time.
“Because I was afraid.”
Elena turned toward him.
“Of Julian?”
“No.”
The answer surprised her.
“I was afraid of losing both my children.”
Those words stayed with her.
Thomas continued.
“Your brother has always needed to feel important.
After your mother died, he convinced himself he had to become the person who held the family together.”
“He hurt you.”
Thomas looked down.
“He made choices that were wrong.”
