Chapter 13 - Thomas Asked Rachel to Lie
Federal investigators offered Thomas a choice.
Cooperate fully against Cheryl and disclose every investor record.
Or face charges alongside her.
Thomas requested five minutes with Rachel.
Laura remained in the room.
So did the military police officer.
Thomas stood near the foot of the bed.
His suit was wrinkled.
His face looked exhausted.
“I can fix some of this,” he said.
Rachel waited.
“If you tell them you had discussed helping with the retreat, the fraud case becomes a misunderstanding.”
“No.”
“You wouldn’t have to say you signed.”
“No.”
“Just say Cheryl believed you agreed.”
“She knew I didn’t.”
“You could keep me out of prison.”
Rachel’s expression did not change.
“You are asking me to lie.”
“I’m asking you to save your father.”
Diane’s sentence returned immediately.
He creates emergencies, then demands that others prove love by saving him.
Rachel almost admired how precisely her mother had understood him.
“What happens to Cheryl?”
“She made the documents.”
“You gave her my passwords.”
“I made a mistake.”
“You entered my house.”
“I was worried.”
“You tried to change my life-insurance beneficiary.”
“That was her idea.”
“You ignored the call saying I might die.”
Thomas’s eyes filled.
“I was afraid.”
“Of what?”
“Of seeing you like that.”
Rachel stared at him.
He was claiming fear as love.
Again.
“You were afraid to watch me suffer,” she said. “So you left me to suffer alone.”
Thomas began crying.
Not loudly.
Not theatrically.
For the first time, his grief seemed real.
But real grief did not create innocence.
Rachel’s voice softened without changing her decision.
“You should cooperate because it is right.”
“And if I do?”
“That has nothing to do with whether I forgive you.”
His face fell.
“You’d let me go to prison?”
“I will tell the truth.”
“You sound like your mother.”
Rachel nodded.
“Thank you.”
Thomas looked toward Laura.
Then the officer.
He understood there would be no rescue.
He agreed to cooperate.
He provided passwords, bank records, investor lists, and messages proving Cheryl organized the forged documents.
He also admitted his own role.
The investigators did not promise immunity.
Thomas asked whether Rachel would visit him if he was charged.
She answered honestly.
“I don’t know.”
May you like
It was more than he deserved.
👉 Thomas finally confessed—but Rachel’s heart surgeon was about to reveal that Cheryl’s interference had nearly delayed a decision that saved Rachel’s life.
