Chapter 4 - THE FILE WITH MY DAUGHTER’S NAME
I forgot how to breathe.
“What do you mean Lily’s name?”
Vanessa looked toward the ballroom.
“I don’t know what’s inside.”
“You saw it.”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“Two weeks ago.”
“And you didn’t open it?”
“I tried.”
She looked ashamed.
“He came home.”
My mother stepped closer.
“What exactly did the folder say?”
“Lillian Hale Brennan.”
My stomach turned.
Lily’s full legal name.
Tyler almost never used it.
To him, she was Lily when convenient and “your daughter” when angry.
“Why would he have a folder about her?”
Vanessa shook her head.
“I don’t know.”
Giovanni was already speaking quietly into his phone.
“Russo.”
He listened.
“Check for entities under Lillian Hale Brennan.”
My head snapped toward him.
“What entities?”
“Trusts.”
“Why would Lily have a trust?”
“Possibly because Tyler created one.”
“With what money?”
“That is what we are going to find out.”
Vanessa looked terrified.
“He’s going to know I told you.”
“Then don’t go home,” I said.
She blinked.
“I can’t just—”
“You’re pregnant.”
My anger toward her had not disappeared.
Not remotely.
But five years of pediatric nursing had trained certain instincts deeper than resentment.
“You said Tyler grabbed for you just now.”
“He was angry.”
“That isn’t an answer.”
“He’s never hit me.”
“Neither had my friend Danielle until the night her husband did.”
Vanessa looked down.
My mother nodded.
“You can stay with us.”
Vanessa looked surprised.
So did I.
Mom folded her arms.
“I can be furious with someone and still refuse to leave a pregnant woman alone with a man who is losing control.”
Sophia kissed her cheek.
“That may be the most Mom sentence ever spoken.”
For a moment, we almost felt like a family again.
Then Giovanni’s phone rang.
He answered.
His expression changed.
“What?”
He listened.
“When?”
Another pause.
“Send it.”
He ended the call.
“What happened?” I asked.
“One of my financial investigators found an account.”
“In Lily’s name?”
“Yes.”
My knees weakened.
“How much?”
“Currently?”
I nodded.
“Eight hundred and sixteen thousand dollars.”
Nobody spoke.
Vanessa covered her mouth.
I laughed because my brain rejected the number.
“That’s impossible.”
“It exists.”
“She’s five.”
“It was opened eleven days after your divorce became final.”
“By Tyler?”
“Tyler is listed as custodian.”
“Where did the money come from?”
“Multiple sources.”
“What sources?”
Giovanni hesitated.
That terrified me.
“Tell me.”
“The first deposit was one hundred and sixty thousand dollars from an entity called H&B Consulting.”
I had never heard of it.
“The second came from Whitmore Development.”
Vanessa whispered, “Oh my God.”
Giovanni continued.
“Other deposits came through three limited liability companies.”
“What does any of that mean?”
“It may mean nothing illegal.”
“Stop protecting me from the answer.”
His gaze softened.
“I’m not.”
“Then say it.”
“It may mean Tyler used your daughter’s identity to move money.”
My mother sat down on a hallway bench.
Sophia looked sick.
I stared at Giovanni.
“What happens to Lily?”
“Nothing.”
“How do you know?”
“Because she is five.”
“But her name—”
“Jessica.”
He stepped in front of me.
“Look at me.”
I did.
“Your daughter did nothing.”
My throat closed.
“Could this hurt her?”
“Financially?”
“Yes.”
“It can be corrected.”
“Legally?”
“She is a minor.”
“Her future?”
“We will protect it.”
The word we struck me.
I pulled back.
“You don’t owe us anything.”
“I know.”
“You met me an hour ago.”
“No.”
His voice was quiet.
“I met you five years ago.”
“That is not the same.”
“To you.”
I stared at him.
He looked toward the ballroom.
“Mateo almost died that night.”
I remembered his nephew’s small hand gripping my fingers.
Giovanni continued.
“My sister was collapsing.”
“She would have signed away everything she owned if someone promised her he would survive.”
He looked back at me.
“You sat beside her and explained every machine.”
“That was my job.”
“You found Mateo a stuffed bear from the donation closet.”
“He was scared.”
“You came back the next morning even though you were off.”
I frowned.
“How do you know that?”
“My sister knows.”
“I check on kids sometimes.”
“Exactly.”
He took a breath.
“You call those things your job.”
“My family calls them the reason Mateo is not afraid of hospitals anymore.”
The anger inside me softened in one small place.
Not enough to trust him.
Enough to listen.
Giovanni’s phone buzzed.
He read the message.
“What now?”
“The account is linked to a property.”
My stomach sank again.
“What property?”
He showed me his phone.
I stared at an address.
It was familiar.
Very familiar.
“That’s my apartment building.”
My mother leaned closer.
“What?”
Giovanni scrolled.
“The ownership company is Lake Cedar Residential.”
“I pay rent to Lake Cedar.”
“Yes.”
“Why is Lily’s account linked to it?”
“I don’t know yet.”
Vanessa suddenly sat down.
“I do.”
We turned.
Her face was completely white.
“Tyler bought a building.”
“When?” I asked.
“Three years ago.”
“Which building?”
“He never told me the address.”
Her breathing quickened.
“He said it was an investment property with twelve units.”
My building had twelve units.
I looked at Giovanni.
He was already searching.
Seconds later, he found it.
“Lake Cedar Residential is controlled by Tyler Brennan through Whitmore Asset Partners.”
My skin crawled.
For three years, I had paid rent to my ex-husband without knowing it.
My rent had increased twice.
The first increase came after Lily started preschool.
The second came three months after Tyler complained that I had requested reimbursement for half her dental surgery.
“No.”
My voice cracked.
Giovanni’s face became hard.
I opened my phone.
My hands shook so badly I nearly dropped it.
I found the most recent rent payment.
Lake Cedar Residential.
$1,925.
I remembered Tyler criticizing my one-bedroom apartment.
You can barely pay your bills.
He owned it.
He knew exactly what I paid.
Maybe he set the amount.
Vanessa whispered, “I’m sorry.”
I looked at her.
“Did you know?”
“No.”
“Think carefully.”
“I swear.”
I believed her.
That realization did not make me feel better.
It made everything worse.
Giovanni said, “Jessica, do you have your lease?”
“At home.”
“We need it.”
“My daughter is with a babysitter there.”
Every person in the hallway went still.
I looked at the clock.
9:18 p.m.
Lily was with Mrs. Alvarez from downstairs.
A woman I trusted completely.
But Tyler knew the address.
Tyler had just been thrown out.
Tyler knew Vanessa had stayed behind.
I dialed Mrs. Alvarez.
She answered on the second ring.
“Jessica?”
“Is Lily okay?”
“Yes.”
Relief hit me.
Then Mrs. Alvarez lowered her voice.
“But her father is here.”
My blood froze.
“What?”
“He says he came to pick up some papers.”
I stood so quickly the bench scraped behind me.
“Do not let him inside.”
“He has a key.”
Everything inside me stopped.
“He has what?”
“He opened the downstairs door himself.”
I looked at Giovanni.
He was already moving.
“Camila.”
She appeared instantly.
I spoke into the phone.
“Mrs. Alvarez, take Lily into your apartment and lock the door.”
“I already did.”
A pounding sound came through the phone.
Then Tyler’s voice.
Muffled.
Angry.
“Jessica needs to stop playing games.”
Mrs. Alvarez whispered, “He’s outside my door.”
I started running.
Giovanni caught up beside me.
“We’ll take my car.”
I barely heard him.
My daughter was behind a locked door.
May you like
Her father was outside it.
And somewhere inside my apartment was a lease that might prove exactly how long Tyler had been using both of us.
