Chapter 10 - The House in Denver
By sunrise, the emergency custody hearing had been postponed.
Daniel had contacted the court clerk with evidence that Michael’s affidavit contained potentially fraudulent information.
The children remained with me.
Michael was ordered not to remove them from the state pending review.
For the first time since dinner began, I could breathe.
But only slightly.
Because the Denver house changed everything.
Daniel’s investigator found the property quickly.
A four-bedroom home in Cherry Creek.
Purchased eighteen months earlier.
Owner.
Larkin Consulting.
Mortgage.
None.
Purchase price.
$1.4 million.
Paid in cash.
I stared at the property record on Daniel’s laptop.
A photograph showed a beautiful brick house with blue shutters.
A basketball hoop stood in the driveway.
Two bicycles leaned against the garage.
Michael had built another home.
Another family.
Using money stolen from mine.
Noah saw the photograph before I could close the laptop.
“Is that where Dad wanted to take us?”
“I think so.”
He sat down quietly.
Lily entered holding her stuffed rabbit.
“Are we still going on the trip?”
My heart broke.
“No, sweetheart.”
She looked disappointed.
“Daddy said there was going to be snow.”
I pulled her into my arms.
“He should have told you the truth.”
She whispered.
“Is Daddy mad at you?”
“No.”
I forced myself to choose my words carefully.
“Daddy made some decisions that hurt people.”
“Will he come home?”
Noah looked away.
I could not lie.
“I don’t know.”
That afternoon, Evelyn Shaw joined Daniel at the house.
She brought the forensic report from my trust.
The money trail was worse than we expected.
Michael had used my assets to pay for Rebecca’s house.
Her car.
Private school tuition for her son.
Vacations.
Medical insurance.
And monthly deposits into an investment account.
Then Evelyn found something unusual.
The boy’s school records listed his surname as Larkin.
His first name was Ethan.
Date of birth.
Five years earlier.
Father.
Blank.
But emergency contact number.
Michael’s.
I stared at the screen.
There was no longer any doubt.
Michael had another child.
I expected jealousy.
Rage.
Maybe even hatred toward Rebecca.
Instead I felt strange sadness for a five-year-old boy who had been born into Michael’s web of lies.
Then Evelyn opened another document.
“You need to see this.”
It was a life insurance policy.
Policyholder.
Michael Bennett.
Benefit.
Five million dollars.
Primary beneficiary.
Claire Bennett.
Secondary beneficiary.
Noah Bennett and Lily Bennett.
I looked confused.
“Why does this matter?”
Evelyn pointed to an amendment filed thirty-two days earlier.
The primary beneficiary had been changed.
New beneficiary.
Rebecca Larkin.
My signature appeared beneath the authorization.
I stared at it.
Another forgery.
Then Daniel looked at the date.
“This was filed the same week Michael began preparing the emergency custody petition.”
Nobody spoke.
The implication was ugly.
May you like
Michael had been removing me from every financial protection surrounding our family.
And we still did not know what his final step had been.
