Chapter 12 - Richard’s Final Gift
Emma agreed to meet Victor only under strict conditions.
Federal detention facility.
Glass partition.
Recorded conversation.
Detective Collins and Thomas present.
Ryan was not invited.
Emma preferred it that way.
Victor entered wearing prison clothing.
Without the tailored suits and expensive coats, he looked smaller.
Older.
Ordinary.
Emma sat across from him.
“You wanted to talk.”
Victor smiled faintly.
“You look healthier.”
“Don’t.”
The smile disappeared.
Emma leaned forward.
“What did Richard leave for Ethan?”
Victor studied her.
“You think Richard was protecting you.”
“He tried.”
“He was protecting Ryan.”
“Maybe both.”
Victor chuckled.
“You’ve become less naive.”
“I almost died.”
Emma’s voice remained cold.
“That helps.”
Victor looked away.
“Richard created a separate investment account shortly before his death.”
“The eleven million?”
“No.”
Emma frowned.
Victor continued.
“Something smaller.”
“How much?”
“At the time? Around six hundred thousand.”
“And now?”
Victor shrugged.
“Probably more.”
“For Ryan?”
“For Ryan’s future children.”
Emma’s chest tightened.
“Why?”
“Guilt.”
“What guilt?”
Victor leaned closer to the glass.
“Richard knew Patricia had noticed your relationship.”
Emma remained silent.
“He feared she would manipulate Ryan into marrying you for money.”
“Ryan didn’t know.”
“No.”
Victor nodded.
“He really didn’t.”
Emma had expected manipulation.
Instead Victor confirmed what investigators believed.
“Richard watched Ryan fall in love with you.”
Victor’s expression became almost thoughtful.
“For a while, he thought maybe something decent could grow out of the mess.”
Emma looked down.
“Then why create an account?”
“Because Richard suspected everything might eventually collapse.”
Victor smiled bitterly.
“He wanted his grandchildren to have something untouched by Patricia, untouched by me, untouched by the Parker-Lang scandal.”
Emma swallowed.
“Where is it?”
Victor gave Thomas the institution name and access instructions.
Federal investigators verified the account.
It was real.
The balance had grown to $1.4 million.
The beneficiary was listed as:
Any biological or legally adopted child of Ryan Parker, payable for education, healthcare, or first-home expenses.
Ethan.
Emma felt tears fill her eyes.
Richard had died years before his grandson was born.
Yet he had protected him.
Victor watched her.
“There’s another thing.”
Emma looked up.
“What?”
“Richard knew he was in danger.”
“We know.”
“No.”
Victor shook his head.
“You don’t know the last thing he asked me.”
Emma’s stomach tightened.
“What?”
“He said if anything happened to him, I should leave Ryan and Emma alone.”
Victor laughed without humor.
“I told him he was being dramatic.”
Emma felt anger rise.
“And then you spent years doing the opposite.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Victor’s expression became empty.
“Because once you spend your life believing money proves your worth, every person becomes a number.”
Emma stared at him.
“That sounds familiar.”
Victor understood.
Ryan.
“I didn’t make your husband abandon you.”
“No.”
Emma nodded.
“You didn’t.”
That distinction mattered.
Victor had manipulated circumstances.
Patricia had interfered.
But Ryan had personally chosen to ignore Emma.
Emma refused to rewrite that truth.
She stood.
“We’re done.”
Victor called after her.
“Emma.”
She stopped.
“For what it’s worth…”
Emma turned.
Victor’s eyes looked tired.
“I never intended for you to die.”
Emma stared at him.
“That’s what people say when they create danger and don’t want responsibility for the result.”
Then she walked away.
Outside the facility, Emma saw Ryan waiting across the parking lot.
She frowned.
“I didn’t invite you.”
“Thomas told Melissa where you were.”
Emma looked irritated.
“He shouldn’t have.”
“I told him I wouldn’t interfere.”
Ryan gestured toward his car.
“I just wanted to make sure you got home safely.”
“I have federal agents.”
“I know.”
Ryan nodded.
“This was stupid.”
He turned to leave.
Emma watched him.
“Ryan.”
He stopped.
She told him about Richard’s account.
Ryan’s face changed.
“My dad did that?”
“Yes.”
“For Ethan?”
“And any children you might have had.”
Ryan looked toward the ground.
His eyes filled.
“He thought about grandchildren.”
Emma nodded.
Ryan laughed softly through tears.
“He always talked about teaching them to fish.”
For a moment, Emma remembered Richard.
Warm.
Quiet.
Nothing like Patricia.
She remembered him helping carry boxes into her first apartment with Ryan.
She remembered him once telling her, “Make sure my son knows when he’s being an idiot.”
Emma had laughed then.
Now the memory hurt.
Ryan wiped his face.
“Use the account for Ethan.”
“That’s what it’s for.”
“No.”
He looked at her.
“I mean I don’t need any control. Put Thomas in charge. Or someone independent.”
Emma studied him.
“Why?”
“Because Dad created it to protect his grandchildren from the worst parts of our family.”
Ryan took a breath.
“That includes protecting Ethan from my mistakes too.”
Emma said nothing.
Saturday visitation became routine.
At first Ryan met Ethan at a family services center.
A supervisor watched everything.
Ryan changed diapers badly.
Prepared bottles too slowly.
Panicked whenever Ethan cried.
But he learned.
He never complained about supervision.
Never asked Emma to shorten the process.
After six weeks, the supervisor wrote in her report:
Mr. Parker demonstrates consistent attentiveness, appropriate caregiving behavior, and substantial improvement in responding to infant cues.
Emma read the report twice.
Then she approved visits at Melissa’s house.
One afternoon she arrived early.
Ryan was sitting on the floor with Ethan asleep against his chest.
He did not know Emma was watching.
His phone buzzed on the table.
Ryan ignored it.
It rang again.
He turned it off.
Then looked down at Ethan.
“I’m here,” he whispered.
Emma’s throat tightened.
Those were the words she had begged him to prove months earlier.
I’m here.
She quietly stepped away.
Not because she wanted him back.
Not yet.
Maybe never.
But because something inside her was beginning to heal.
Then the prosecutor called.
Patricia Parker had reached a plea agreement.
Emma would have the opportunity to give a victim statement.
And Patricia had requested one thing before sentencing.
She wanted to see Emma.
Emma almost refused.
Then she looked at her son.
May you like
Some doors needed to be closed properly.
“I’ll see her.”
