Richard swallowed.
“Mr. Carter, I owe you an apology.”
Daniel's voice remained cautious.
“You told me never to contact you again.”
“I know.”
“You said I was exploiting your wife's memory.”
Richard lowered his head.
“I remember.”
“And you accused me of having an affair with her.”
The words struck him.
For a moment, he could not answer.
Then he whispered, “I was wrong.”
A long silence followed.
Richard looked toward the staircase.
Upstairs, Maya was in her bedroom, pressing a cold compress against the cheek Nicole had slapped. Eleven-year-old Ethan was sitting beside her, refusing to return to his own room because he was frightened his sister might need him.
Richard's chest tightened.
He had spent years believing Nicole was holding their family together.
Now he knew his children had been learning how to survive her.
“Mr. Carter,” he said quietly, “my son found a letter.”
Daniel stopped breathing.
“What letter?”
“Written by Laura.”
A pause.
“What's the date?”
“November sixteenth, twenty-twenty.”
The line went completely silent.
Richard looked down at the handwriting.
“She says you were helping her investigate missing money.”
Daniel exhaled slowly.
“Yes.”
“She says she wasn't having an affair.”
“No, Richard. She wasn't.”
Richard pressed his fingers against his forehead.
For six years, he had carried the memory of accusing Laura of betrayal during one of their final conversations.
He remembered the hurt in her eyes.
The way she asked whether he truly believed she would deceive him.
The way he refused to answer.
Now Daniel's quiet confirmation made that memory almost unbearable.
Richard swallowed.
“She says you know where she was going the night she died.”
Daniel did not respond immediately.
Then he asked a question that changed everything.
“Richard, who gave you that letter?”
“My son found it.”
“Where?”
Richard looked toward the empty chair Nicole had occupied earlier.
“In my second wife's locked desk drawer.”
Daniel's breathing changed.
“Nicole?”
Richard went still.
“You know her?”
Another silence.
Then Daniel answered.
“Yes.”
Richard felt a chill.
“How?”
Daniel's voice became careful.
“Because Laura believed Nicole was involved in the missing payments.”
Richard stared at the letter.
He had known that possibility.
The financial approval records mentioned her.
But hearing Daniel say it aloud made the truth feel more immediate.
He swallowed.
“Was she?”
Daniel took a slow breath.
“Richard, I can't explain six years of financial records properly over the telephone.”
“Try.”
“I understand you're upset.”
“My daughter was struck in her own home today by a woman I married because I thought she cared about my children.”
Richard's voice broke.
“My son found a letter from their dead mother that Nicole had hidden for six years. I think I've earned the right to know what happened.”
Daniel was quiet.