My stomach tightened.
“What did you tell her?”
“That I don’t discuss residents’ private business.”
I thanked him.
Then I asked whether the security footage had been preserved.
“It has,” he said.
“The police have the relevant portion, and we’ve retained a secure copy according to our procedures.”
I rode the elevator to the eleventh floor with my purse held tightly against my chest.
When I entered my apartment, I noticed that the living room looked exactly as I had left it.
The flowers on the windowsill were still standing.
Thomas’s chair remained beside the bookcase.
The framed photograph of Ashley at her high-school graduation still occupied its place on the mantel.
I walked toward it and lifted the frame.
She was eighteen in the photograph, wearing a blue gown and smiling so broadly that her eyes nearly disappeared.
Thomas stood beside her, his hand resting proudly on her shoulder.
I remembered how he had whispered that morning that our daughter would do wonderful things.
I put the frame down.
Then I noticed the drawer beneath the television was slightly open.
I was certain I had closed it before leaving.
Inside were old photographs, a few instruction manuals, and a folder of household receipts.
Someone had searched through them.
I called Mr.
Alvarez.
He came upstairs with another building employee and helped me document what I had found.
Nothing obvious appeared to be missing, but we could not determine whether anyone had entered the apartment or when the drawer had been opened.
I contacted the police to report the discovery.
Then I called my new attorney, who advised me not to confront Ashley or Derek while the facts were still being established.
I agreed.
But that evening, Ashley arrived at the building anyway.
Mr.
Alvarez called me from the lobby.
“She’s here,” he said.
“She says she needs to speak with you.”
“Did she come alone?”
“No.
Her husband is waiting outside.”
I looked through the peephole.
Ashley stood in the hallway holding a bouquet of white roses.
For one brief moment, I saw the little girl who used to bring me dandelions from the park.
Then I remembered the papers.
I remembered the blow.
I opened the door but kept the chain fastened.
“What do you want?”
She lifted the flowers.
“I want to apologize.”
“Why?”
Her expression faltered.
“Because I lost my temper.”
“You hit me.”
“I know.”
“You tried to make me sign away my home.”
“I was trying to help.”
“Then why did you tell me not to open Dad’s letter?”
Ashley looked down.
For several seconds, she said nothing.
Finally, she whispered, “Because I knew what it would say.”
My heart began to pound.
“What would it say?”
She glanced toward the stairwell.
“Mom, please.
Can we talk inside?”
“No.”
The word surprised both of us.
I had spent my entire life opening the door whenever Ashley asked for help.
This time, I kept it closed.
“Tell me what you know.”
She took a shaky breath.
“Dad found out about the money.”
“What money?”
“The eighty-five thousand dollars.”
I stared at her.
“Where did it go?”
Her eyes filled with tears.
“I didn’t steal it from you.”
“I never said you did.”
“He thought I was helping Derek.
But it wasn’t that simple.”
“Then explain it.”
She looked at the chain between us.
“Derek told me his company was going to collapse.
He said people would lose their jobs, that we’d lose everything, and that I was the only person who could help him.”
“And the money?”
“He transferred it to my company.
He told me it was payment for consulting work.”
“Did you do the work?”
She closed her eyes.
“Not all of it.”
The admission hung between us.
“Where is the money now?”
“I used some of it to pay our bills.
Derek used the rest to keep the company running.”
“And Dad found out?”
“Yes.”
“What happened?”
Ashley wiped her face.
“He confronted Derek.
They argued.
Dad told him he would never allow the condo to be used as collateral.”
My fingers tightened around the edge of the door.
“And you?”
“I agreed with Dad.”
“Then why are you trying to transfer the condo now?”
She looked at me with a desperation I had never seen before.
“Because Derek told me the debt was much worse than I knew.
He said if we couldn’t pay, we would lose our home.
He promised that once his company recovered, he’d put the condo back in your name.”
I stared at her.
“You believed him?”
“I wanted to believe him.”
“And when I refused?”
Her lips trembled.
“I panicked.”
“You hit me because you panicked?”
“No!”
The sudden sharpness in her voice made me flinch.
She immediately lowered her head.
“I’m sorry.
I didn’t mean to shout.”
I waited.
Finally, she placed the roses on the floor beside the door.
“There’s something else you need to know.”
I felt a chill.
“What?”
“Dad didn’t just discover the money.
He found out that Derek had used my signature on another document.”
“What document?”
“A loan guarantee.”
I stared at her.
“Did you sign it?”
“No.”
“Did you authorize him to sign it?”
She shook her head.
“Then why did you tell me Dad didn’t know everything?”
Her face crumpled.
“Because I don’t know whether Derek forged my signature or whether someone else helped him.”
Before I could respond, she looked toward the stairwell again.
“Mom, if you tell the police about the money, they’ll investigate everything.
They might find something that could send Derek to prison.”
I felt the last of my sympathy harden into something else.
“You came here to warn me about the consequences for your husband.”
“No.
I came because I don’t want to lose you.”
“Then you should have thought about that before you struck me.”
Ashley began to cry.
I closed the door.
This time, I locked it.
Through the wood, I heard her whisper my name.
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