Chapter 3 - THE BROTHER EVERYONE THOUGHT HAD LEFTDaniel drove to Boston the next morning.
Emma asked to come.
He said yes.
For too long, family decisions had happened around her.
Not anymore.
The house was modest.
Nothing like the Hayes estate.
Daniel knocked.
A man opened the door.
Jonathan.
Older.
Thinner.
But unmistakably his brother.
For several seconds, neither spoke.
Then Jonathan said:
“So she finally got caught.”
Daniel stared.
“You knew?”
Jonathan laughed bitterly.
“I knew what she was capable of.”
Emma stood beside Daniel.
Jonathan looked at her cheek.
His expression changed.
“She hit you?”
Emma nodded.
Jonathan closed his eyes.
“Of course she did.”
Daniel felt cold.
“What does that mean?”
Jonathan looked at him.
“She used to hit me too.”
Silence.
Daniel stared.
“When?”
“When you were away at college.”
Daniel could not speak.
Their father died when Daniel was nineteen.
Daniel left for university.
Jonathan remained home with Margaret.
According to everyone, Jonathan became rebellious.
Difficult.
Unstable.
That was the story.
The truth was different.
Margaret controlled him.
Insulted him.
Hit him.
Then used money to keep him dependent.
When Jonathan finally left, Margaret told everyone he was ungrateful.
“She paid for this house?” Daniel asked.
Jonathan laughed.
“No.”
He pulled out paperwork.
“She used my inheritance.”
Daniel’s stomach dropped.
Their father had left Jonathan a trust.
Margaret controlled it.
She moved the money.
Then bought the house under a company she controlled.
“You don’t own this?”
“No.”
“So she could take it whenever she wanted.”
“Exactly.”
Daniel finally saw the pattern.
Margaret did not help people.
May you like
She made them dependent.
Then called the dependency love.
