Chapter 9 - Rebecca’s House Wasn’t the Real Secret
The house was embarrassing.
The ownership stake was serious.
Five years earlier, Dad transferred fifteen percent of Carter Storage North to Rebecca.
No issue by itself.
But the purchase price was supposedly paid through a promissory note.
Rebecca made almost no payments.
Instead, Dad’s company booked amounts as consulting compensation to her and then applied those amounts toward the note.
Megan believed the structure required closer professional review.
Again, I refused to label what I didn’t fully understand.
But Emily had objected.
Her notes showed she believed Rebecca was receiving ownership while presenting it as an arms-length transaction.
That could matter to lenders, taxes, and eventually inheritance.
Then I found the emotional reason Rebecca was terrified.
Dad had promised her control of the business.
Not ownership alone.
Control.
She had spent fifteen years working beside him.
She believed she had earned it.
I had never wanted the company.
But under Dad’s estate plan, I still stood to inherit a substantial share.
Emily had asked why.
If Rebecca was going to run the business, why not structure everything transparently?
Dad refused.
He liked keeping future ownership ambiguous.
It gave him leverage over both children.
Rebecca needed to remain loyal.
I needed to remain available.
Nothing was final while Dad was alive.
Emily called that what it was.
Control.
Then Rebecca came to my clinic.
She looked exhausted.
“I’m sorry about Lily.”
I stared.
“That sentence is too small.”
She nodded.
“I know.”
“Did you hit her?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“She kept saying Emily knew Dad was stealing.”
“So you hit a five-year-old.”
Rebecca covered her face.
“I panicked.”
“And Dad held her?”
“Yes.”
“Why did Mom do nothing?”
“Because we all thought if you started digging, the company could collapse.”
There it was.
Then she added:
“And because Dad told us Emily had already given you the files before she died.”
My stomach tightened.
“What files?”
Rebecca looked confused.
“You don’t have them?”
No.
Apparently Emily had gathered far more than the yellow legal pad.
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And someone believed those records were already in my possession.
That was why the family had been watching me so closely since her death.
