Chapter 2 - The Family Dinner
By six the next evening, my mother had transformed the house.
Flowers.
Wine.
Roast chicken.
Candles.
The expensive dinner plates.
Apparently Phedra had managed to gather enough broken pieces the previous day.
That thought nearly destroyed my ability to remain calm.
Phedra stayed in the hospital.
I wouldn't bring her back there.
Not ever.
Selina had asked.
“Shouldn't your wife be part of a family celebration?”
I almost admired the shamelessness.
I said the doctors wanted her resting.
Godfrey arrived wearing another expensive shirt.
His girlfriend, Melissa, came too.
I'd never met her.
Within ten minutes, Godfrey was explaining investment strategies to me.
The same brother who had once borrowed money from me to repair a motorcycle now spoke about “capital allocation.”
I listened.
He proposed expanding his auto shop.
Second location.
Luxury vehicle imports.
Detailing center.
He needed $300,000.
Selina interrupted.
“Family money should stay in the family.”
There it was.
My money had become family money before it existed.
“What do you think I should do?” I asked.
Selina leaned forward.
“Put the settlement into a family holding company.”
I almost smiled.
“Already thought about that?”
Godfrey answered too quickly.
“We've talked about it.”
“How long?”
Silence.
Then Selina laughed.
“Just generally.”
I nodded.
“Do you have paperwork?”
Godfrey did.
Of course.
He disappeared upstairs.
Returned with a folder.
That was what I wanted.
He spread documents across the table.
A company called Cole Family Ventures.
Ownership:
Damian Cole – 50%.
Selina Cole – 25%.
Godfrey Cole – 25%.
My supposed contribution:
$1 million.
I looked impressed.
“This was fast.”
Godfrey grinned.
“I know people.”
The documents included a power of attorney allowing Selina to manage investments when I returned to Canada.
That part made my skin crawl.
They expected me to leave again.
Of course they did.
Damian works.
Damian sends money.
Damian doesn't ask questions.
Meanwhile, Selina manages everything.
Godfrey spends.
Phedra disappears.
“What about Phedra?” I asked.
Mom's smile vanished slightly.
“What about her?”
“She's my wife.”
“You should protect yourself.”
“From my wife?”
“She has cancer.”
The words came so casually.
I stared.
Selina continued.
“If something happens to her, that's one thing. But if she survives, medical expenses could swallow everything.”
There are sentences you never forget.
That was one.
My mother was calculating whether my wife's survival was financially inconvenient.
I lowered my eyes so she wouldn't see what was in them.
Then I said:
“Maybe you're right.”
Godfrey relaxed.
Selina smiled.
“I'm your mother. I only want what's best for you.”
I signed nothing.
I told them my Canadian attorney needed to review everything.
Then I asked for historical documents.
“To show him our family already invests together.”
Godfrey hesitated.
Selina didn't.
She told him:
“Get the blue binder.”
Godfrey looked at her.
That glance told me everything.
There was a blue binder.
He brought it.
Bank transfers.
Invoices.
Business registrations.
Receipts.
Loans.
My name appeared everywhere.
They had created an entire paper version of me.
Investor.
Guarantor.
Business partner.
Financial backer.
I photographed pages while pretending to send them to my attorney.
Then I saw Phedra's name.
A document titled:
VOLUNTARY MARITAL ASSET WAIVER.
My hands became cold.
“What is this?”
Selina waved dismissively.
“Something she signed.”
“When?”
“Months ago.”
I read it.
Phedra supposedly waived any claim to several assets acquired during our marriage.
Including Godfrey's auto shop.
Why would my wife have any claim to my brother's shop?
Unless my money funded it.
“Phedra signed this?”
“Yes.”
I knew her signature.
This wasn't hers.
It wasn't even close.
“Why?”
Selina poured wine.
“She understood that money you sent belonged to the Cole family, not her.”
I looked at my mother.
“And if she says she didn't sign it?”
Selina smiled.
“She forgets things because of treatment.”
There it was.
Cancer hadn't just made Phedra vulnerable.
They were using it to erase her credibility.
I closed the binder.
“Can I take this?”
Godfrey immediately said:
“No.”
Selina glared at him.
Then smiled at me.
“Of course.”
Greed overruled caution.
I took the binder.
Before leaving, Godfrey followed me outside.
“Bro.”
“What?”
“About Phedra.”
I stopped.
He lowered his voice.
“You need to think practically.”
“Meaning?”
“She might not make it.”
I said nothing.
He continued.
“You've been gone four years. You're still young. Don't burn everything down over someone who might have six months.”
I looked at my brother.
For the first time in my life, I saw him clearly.
Not as the annoying younger brother I had protected.
Not as family.
As a man who had watched my sick wife starve while wearing clothes bought with my money.
I smiled.
“That's good advice.”
Godfrey grinned.
He actually believed me.
I drove straight to my lawyer's office.
The blue binder went into an evidence bag.
My lawyer examined it until nearly midnight.
At 12:17 a.m., he looked up.
“This is much larger than we thought.”
“How large?”
He turned the binder toward me.
Godfrey hadn't only used my identity for loans.
He had submitted documents claiming I authorized him to receive money from an investment account my father had left me years earlier.
I hadn't touched that account since Dad died.
I thought it held roughly $40,000.
It was empty.
“How much?”
My lawyer answered.
“$217,000.”
I stared.
My mother and brother hadn't stolen one hundred thousand dollars.
They had taken more than three hundred thousand.
And that was only what we had found.
Then my phone buzzed.
Phedra.
I answered immediately.
“Hey, honey.”
Her voice shook.
“Damian?”
“What?”
“Someone came into my hospital room.”
I stood.
“Who?”
“I don't know.”
“What happened?”
“They said your mother sent them.”
My blood went cold.
“What did they want?”
May you like
Phedra started crying.
“They wanted me to sign something.”
