Chapter 6 - The Person Rebecca Had Blamed
Caleb and Dana had been separated for almost a year.
At least that was what the family believed.
Dana lived twenty minutes away in Concord with their fourteen-year-old daughter, Sophie.
Margaret had quietly resented her.
Caleb said Dana was demanding money he didn’t have.
He said she threatened to ruin his business.
He said she was why he had moved into Margaret’s guesthouse.
Now $46,000 from Margaret’s home-equity line had gone into Dana’s account.
Rebecca wanted to confront her immediately.
Margaret didn’t.
“Ask first.”
They met Dana at a coffee shop near Todos Santos Plaza.
Dana looked exhausted before Margaret even mentioned the money.
When Margaret showed her the transfer, Dana’s eyes widened.
“Oh, God.”
“You received it?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Dana pushed her coffee away.
“Caleb told me it came from the sale of equipment.”
“For what?”
“Back support. School tuition. Medical bills.”
Dana opened her phone and showed them months of messages.
Caleb had fallen behind on support payments.
He had also stopped contributing to Sophie’s expenses.
He repeatedly claimed Calder Residential was cash-poor.
Dana had threatened to return to court.
Then the $46,000 arrived.
Rebecca frowned.
“So you didn’t know it was Grandma’s money?”
Dana looked at Margaret.
“No.”
Margaret believed her.
Not because she wanted to.
Because Dana’s messages matched the dates.
Another piece of Caleb’s story collapsed.
He had painted Dana as greedy while using Margaret’s money to hide his failure to meet obligations to his daughter.
The consequences reached farther than Margaret realized.
Caleb’s business employed people.
Dana depended on support.
Sophie depended on both parents.
If Margaret forced immediate repayment, Calder Residential could collapse.
If she did nothing, Caleb could lose her home trying to save it.
That evening Rebecca asked the question Margaret had avoided.
“What do you want to happen to him?”
Margaret looked across the yard toward the empty guesthouse.
“I want him stopped.”
“That isn’t the same as what I asked.”
“I know.”
Her phone rang.
It was Caleb.
She didn’t answer.
A minute later, a message appeared.
YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT YOU’RE DOING TO SOPHIE.
Margaret stared at her granddaughter’s name.
Caleb had found the one weapon he thought she would never fight against.
Family guilt.
May you like
For years, it had worked.
This time Margaret took a screenshot.
