"Of course."
"All these years?"
"Every single one."
She sat beside him.
"Why didn't you ever throw anything away?"
Daniel looked at her.
"Because those things reminded me that I had once been the luckiest man alive."
Emily leaned her head against his shoulder.
"You still are."
He smiled.
"Maybe."
Then he looked toward the window.
"But I have something to tell you."
Emily raised her head.
"What?"
"I don't want you to spend your life fighting your mother because of me."
She frowned.
"Dad—"
"Listen to me."
He took her hands.
"Whatever happened between us, I don't want you to become bitter. I don't want you to spend every birthday remembering what she did. I don't want you to feel that you have to choose one parent to prove that you love the other."
Emily's eyes filled.
"I don't want that either."
"Then remember this. You can love someone and still tell them the truth. You can forgive someone without pretending the hurt never happened."
She nodded.
Daniel smiled.
"That's all I want."
Emily hugged him.
And for a moment, the small rented room felt warmer than the enormous house where she had grown up.
The first major legal meeting took place on a Thursday morning.
Vanessa arrived in an expensive black suit.
She carried a leather folder and wore a confident expression.
Her attorney sat beside her.
Daniel arrived with Rebecca.
Emily accompanied him.
The two sides sat across from one another.
At first, the conversation was formal.
The attorneys reviewed the agreement.
They discussed the business transfer.
They examined the education provisions.
Vanessa insisted that she had acted in good faith.
She argued that the company had been financially unstable and that the money had been used to maintain the family.
Rebecca asked a simple question.
"Can you provide documentation showing that the education account required by the agreement was established?"
Vanessa's attorney reviewed the folder.
"We are still gathering historical records."
Rebecca nodded.
"Then can you explain why the account does not appear in the available financial statements?"
Vanessa leaned forward.
"The family had expenses. I made decisions as the parent who remained in the household."
Rebecca remained calm.
"That may explain some household expenditures. It does not necessarily explain the failure to comply with a separate contractual obligation."
Vanessa looked toward Daniel.
"You know exactly what was happening at the time. You left me with everything."
Daniel didn't respond immediately.
Then he spoke.
"I left you with a signed agreement. I left you with the company. I left you with the responsibility of protecting our daughter."
Vanessa's eyes narrowed.
"You abandoned us."
Daniel looked at her.
"I didn't abandon Emily."
"You walked out!"
"After you told me I would never see her again if I didn't sign."
Vanessa's attorney interrupted.
"Let's keep this professional."
Rebecca opened another folder.
"I believe we should review the correspondence from that period."
She placed copies of several letters on the table.
The first was Daniel's letter requesting access to Emily.
The second was Vanessa's response.
The third was the letter Margaret had preserved.
Vanessa's face changed.
Rebecca continued.
"These documents suggest that Mr. Carter made repeated attempts to maintain contact with his daughter."
Vanessa looked at her attorney.
He began reading.
The room became quiet.
Then Rebecca placed another document on the table.
It was a copy of the internal message about the company's restructuring.
Vanessa's expression hardened.
"Where did you get that?"
"From the company records."
"That is confidential."
"It is relevant to the financial transactions under review."
Vanessa's attorney leaned closer.
He read the message.
Then he looked at Vanessa.
For the first time that morning, he appeared concerned.
The meeting ended without an agreement.
But everyone in the room understood that the situation had changed.
The question was no longer whether Daniel had walked away from his family.
The question was whether Vanessa had used his departure to gain control of something she had promised to protect.
And Emily was finally in a position to discover the truth.
Three days after the meeting, Emily received a phone call from an unfamiliar number.
"Is this Emily Carter?"
"Yes."
"My name is Thomas Reed. I was your father's accountant when he owned Carter Electrical Services."
Emily sat down.
"How did you get my number?"
"Your attorney contacted me. She asked whether I would be willing to discuss the company's financial records."
Emily looked toward the hospital corridor.
"Do you know what happened?"
There was a pause.
"I know more than I told your father."
Emily's heart began beating faster.
"What do you mean?"
"I think you and your father deserve to hear the entire story."
They arranged to meet the following afternoon.
Thomas was a retired accountant in his late sixties. He wore glasses, carried a brown leather briefcase, and spoke carefully.
He greeted Emily with a handshake.
Then he looked at a photograph she had brought.
"That's Daniel."
"Yes. He's my father."
Thomas smiled sadly.
"He was one of the most honest businessmen I ever worked with."
Emily sat across from him.
"Please tell me what happened."
Thomas opened his briefcase.
He removed several documents.
"Your father came to me shortly before the company changed ownership. He was worried about the business, but not because it was failing."
"Why was he worried?"
"Because he had discovered several financial transactions that he couldn't explain."
"Which transactions?"
"Payments to outside companies. Large transfers that didn't match the normal operating expenses."
"Who authorized them?"
Thomas looked at her.
"Your mother."
Emily felt her stomach tighten.
"Did Dad know?"
"He discovered the transfers and confronted her."
Thomas placed a document on the table.
"This was an internal accounting report I prepared at the time."
Emily read the figures.
There were several payments to consulting firms.
One company had no employees listed in the records.
Another had been registered only a few months before receiving its first payment.
"Where did the money go?"
"Some of it went into accounts connected to a business associate of your mother. I couldn't establish the final destination of every payment."