For the first time since I entered, he held both our hands at once.
I almost cried.
At the hospital, I called my attorney.
Not the company attorney.
My personal attorney.
Laura Chen.
She listened.
Then said,
“Do not contact Melissa.”
Hannah almost smiled.
“I told him.”
Laura said.
“Smart woman.”
I looked at Hannah.
“Yes.”
She had always been.
I had simply stopped respecting it.
We preserved everything.
Hospital discharge records.
Bank statements.
The notebook.
The call recording.
The memory card.
The security footage from County General.
The private facility records.
Laura also hired a forensic accountant.
James Patel.
By morning, he had preliminary findings.
My father’s account had been accessed by someone using a power of attorney.
I stared.
“Dad never gave Melissa power of attorney.”
James looked at me.
“There is one on file.”
“Signed five months ago.”
My father had already suffered the stroke by then.
His right hand was paralyzed.
The signature on the document was written in his old right-handed style.
Perfect.
Too perfect.
I felt cold.
Forgery.
Maybe.
We needed proof.
The notary was a woman named Carla Benson.
She worked for a small office tied to Melissa’s friend.
Laura issued a preservation request.
Then another discovery appeared.
Silver Pines Rehabilitation Center had billed only nineteen days.
Exactly as Hannah said.
After that, no record of Dad.
Yet Melissa had sent me invoices every month.
Fake invoices.
I opened my bank app.
Six payments.
$3,500 each.
Twenty-one thousand dollars.
Not enormous compared with Dad’s missing millions.
But enough to show intent.
Then James traced Dad’s investment transfers.
MC Advisory Group received $1.8 million.
Another entity received $900,000.
Another $600,000.
The last company had an owner I recognized.
My uncle Dean.
Dad’s younger brother.
I stared at the screen.
“You’ve got to be kidding.”
James said,
“Do not call him.”
I nodded.
I was learning.
Hannah sat in the corner.
She looked exhausted.
I asked.
“When did you last sleep?”
She shrugged.
“Not important.”
“It is.”
She stared at me.
