Chapter 5: The Blank Check
Chapter 5: The Blank Check
Money had always been my family’s ultimate weapon.
If my father couldn't intimidate you, he bought you. It was a strategy that had worked for him for forty years.
He tried it on me on a rainy Tuesday afternoon.
I was sitting in my kitchen, reviewing the civil suit documents Marcus had sent over, when my father’s black Mercedes pulled into my driveway. He didn't knock. He let himself in with the spare key I used to let him keep.
“Give me the key,” I said before he even took his coat off.
He paused, sighed, and tossed the key onto the counter. “Always so dramatic, Evelyn.”
He sat across from me. He didn't ask how Sophie was doing. He didn't ask how I was holding up.
He reached into his tailored suit jacket and pulled out a sleek leather checkbook. He clicked a gold pen.
“We need to put an end to this circus,” he said flatly. “The country club is gossiping. Preston’s business partners are pulling out of deals. The DA is talking about a five-year sentence.”
“Good.”
My father ignored me. “I've set up a trust fund for Sophie. Three million dollars. It matures when she turns eighteen. It pays for her college, her wedding, a house.”
He slid a folded piece of paper across the table.
“All you have to do is sign this Non-Disclosure Agreement. You state publicly that the security footage was misinterpreted, that Preston was having a medical episode, and you refuse to testify at the criminal trial.”
I looked at the piece of paper. Then I looked at my father.
“You’re bribing a witness in a felony case. That’s a crime.”
“It’s a family settlement,” he countered smoothly. “Three million dollars, Evelyn. You’re a single mother. You work in middle management. You can’t afford to be proud.”
I slid the paper back to him.
“Take your money. Take your NDA. And get out of my house. If you ever come near me or my daughter again, I will have you arrested for witness tampering.”
His face turned purple. The mask of control finally slipped.
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“You ungrateful little brat! You are destroying your brother!”
“My brother destroyed himself,” I said, standing up. “The door is behind you.”
