Colleen stared at the papers.
Then she looked at Bryce’s letter in my hand.
“Bryce knew she wasn’t Trevor’s daughter.”
For several seconds, I thought I had misheard her.
“What?”
“By the time he wrote that letter, Bryce knew.”
“Then why would my son tell me she was?”
“Because he needed you to come to me.”
Anger rose so quickly that I could feel my hands trembling.
“He could have told me everything himself.”
“No, he couldn’t. He promised me he wouldn’t put the full story in the letter.”
“Why?”
Colleen looked at me for a long moment.
“Because part of the truth belonged to someone else.”
I thought about Martin.
“Sadie is Martin’s daughter.”
Colleen nodded.
My anger did not disappear. It simply changed direction.
“Then tell me what Trevor did.”
She sat down slowly.
Trevor and Martin had started their business together when they were young. For a while, it had done well.
Then Trevor made a large investment without telling Martin.
It went badly.
Instead of admitting what he had done, Trevor altered financial records so it appeared that Martin had approved the decision.
By the time Martin realized what had happened, his reputation was already damaged.
“He tried to clear his name,” Colleen said. “Trevor refused to admit what he’d done.”
“And the night Martin died?”
Her eyes lowered.
“They argued.”
Martin left furious, got into his car, and drove away.
The crash that killed him was an accident. Trevor had not caused it, but he had spent the rest of his life knowing that his lie had destroyed his best friend’s reputation and that their final conversation had ended in anger.
Worse, he never publicly corrected the story.
Martin died with people believing he had betrayed the company.
I looked down at the bank statements.
“The money.”
“Trevor started sending it after Martin died,” Colleen said. “At first, I refused. Then I had a child to raise, debts from the business mess, and very little left. Trevor said that if he couldn’t undo what he had done, he could at least make sure Martin’s daughter didn’t pay for it.”
