Chapter 12: What They Had Been Hiding

The documents arrived the next morning.

There were so many that I couldn't process them all at once.

Bank statements. Property records. Trust agreements. Legal correspondence.

And every page seemed to reveal another piece of the life my mother had hidden from me.

Beck sat beside me at the dining table, quietly sorting the papers into piles.

"This one is the original trust agreement," he said.

I picked it up.

My father's signature was at the bottom.

The document stated that the majority of his estate was to remain untouched until I turned twenty-five.

There was one exception.

Education.

Housing.

And medical emergencies.

Nothing about supporting another family member.

Nothing about buying a house for Pepper.

Nothing about Camden.

I turned the page.

There it was.

A withdrawal request.

The amount was enormous.

The recipient was a property company.

The same company that owned Pepper's house.

My throat tightened.

"They used my inheritance to buy that house."

Beck nodded.

"Looks like it."

I kept reading.

The transaction had been approved by my mother as trustee.

But there was something else.

A second signature.

Camden.

I stared at his name.

"Why would Camden sign this?"

Beck leaned closer.

"Maybe he knew exactly where the money came from."

My stomach turned.

I remembered Camden's words.

She just needed my help to have the baby.

Don't be petty.

My mom said you need to produce an heir before the wedding too.

He had known.

Maybe not every detail.

But enough.

Enough to know what he was doing.

Enough to understand that I was being pushed aside while everyone else benefited.

I put the paper down.

My phone rang.

This time, it wasn't my mother.

It was Pepper.

I almost ignored it.

Then I answered.

"What do you want?"

Her breathing was shaky.

"I need to talk to you."

"About what?"

"Camden."

I leaned back.

"You have him. What else could you possibly want from me?"

"I didn't know."

Her voice cracked.

"I swear I didn't know about your father's money."

I laughed once.

"You expect me to believe that?"

"I didn't."

She sounded desperate.

"Camden told me the house was a gift. He said your mother wanted to help us start a family."

I closed my eyes.

"And you believed him?"

"Yes."

There was a pause.

"I was stupid."

"Maybe."

"Rowan, please. I'm not calling to fight."

I looked at Beck.

"Then why are you calling?"

"Because I found something."

My attention sharpened.

"What?"

"A file in Camden's office."

My fingers tightened around the phone.

"What kind of file?"

"It has your name on it."

Silence filled the line.

"What does it say?"

"I don't know everything. But there are copies of your father's documents. And there's a note from Camden."

"What note?"

Pepper swallowed.

"It says, 'Once Rowan signs the transfer, everything becomes ours.'"

My blood ran cold.

Beck's expression changed immediately.

"Did you take a picture?" I asked.

"Yes."

"Send it to me."

"I will."

A few seconds later, the image arrived.

I opened it.

Camden's handwriting was unmistakable.

The note was short.

But underneath it was a list.

My inheritance.

The house.

A business account.

A future investment fund.

And beside each item was a date.

The dates were all after my planned wedding.

They had been waiting for me to marry Camden.

Once I did, they intended to transfer everything.

I felt nauseous.

"They weren't planning to marry me because they loved me," I whispered.

Beck's hand covered mine.

"They needed your signature."

The truth was finally clear.

Camden hadn't simply replaced me with Pepper.

He had been preparing to use me.

My mother had helped him.

Pepper had benefited from it.

And I had almost married into the trap.

I saved every photograph.

Then I called the lawyer.

"I need to know whether they can still access anything."

"Not without your authorization," he said.

"Good."

"There's something else you should know."

I went still.

"What?"

"Your father added a second protection clause."

"What kind?"

"If anyone attempts to obtain your inheritance through marriage, coercion, fraud, or deception, the trust automatically freezes the disputed assets and triggers an investigation."

I stared at Beck.

For the first time since my father died, I felt like he was still protecting me.

"Then freeze everything," I said.

"Already done."

I exhaled slowly.

"And the property?"

"We're reviewing it now."

When I ended the call, Beck squeezed my hand.

"Your dad saw this coming."

Tears filled my eyes.

"He knew my mother."

"Maybe he knew people could change."

I looked down at his ring on my finger.

My father had left me more than money.

He had left me a way out.

That afternoon, my mother arrived at our hotel.

She looked exhausted.

For the first time in my life, she looked smaller than I remembered.

She stopped when she saw Beck standing beside me.

"I need to speak to Rowan alone."

"She doesn't have to be alone," Beck said calmly.

My mother glared at him.

"This is a family matter."

I shook my head.

"No. It stopped being a family matter when you used Dad's money to build someone else's life."

Her eyes filled with tears.

"I was trying to keep everyone together."

"You kept everyone together by breaking me."

She flinched.

"Camden promised he would take care of Pepper and the baby."

"So you sacrificed me?"

"I thought you'd understand eventually."

"Understand what? That I was worth less?"

"No."

Her voice broke.

"I thought you were strong enough to survive it."

That sentence hurt more than anything else she had said.

Because finally, she had admitted it.

She had known.

She had always known.

She just believed I could take the pain better than everyone else.

I stepped back.

"I'm done protecting you from the consequences of your choices."

My mother wiped her tears.

"Rowan, please."

"Go home, Mom."

"What are you going to do?"

I looked her directly in the eyes.

"I'm going to take back what Dad left me."

Her face went pale.

And for the first time, she understood that the daughter she had spent years overlooking wasn't asking for permission anymore.