Chapter 15 - AFTER THE HONEYMOON
Robert looked smaller in the detention-center interview room.
For the first time in Meline’s life, her father wore clothes he had not chosen.
No tailored suit.
No expensive watch.
No authority.
Just institutional gray.
Meline sat across from him beside Rebecca.
“You asked to see me.”
Robert nodded.
His eyes were tired.
“I’m sorry.”
Meline felt nothing.
“That isn’t why I came.”
Robert looked down.
“No.”
“It isn’t.”
Rebecca opened her notebook.
“What was Jason planning after the honeymoon?”
Robert swallowed.
“I don’t know exactly.”
Meline stood.
“Then we’re done.”
“Wait.”
Robert leaned forward.
“He asked about your life insurance.”
Meline slowly sat again.
“What about it?”
“Whether the spouse automatically becomes beneficiary.”
Rebecca’s pen stopped.
“When?”
“Two months ago.”
Meline’s skin turned cold.
“What did you tell him?”
“That I didn’t know.”
Robert rubbed his face.
“He also asked whether your company shares transferred through probate.”
Meline stared at him.
“Why didn’t that alarm you?”
Robert looked ashamed.
“Because I thought he was asking about divorce.”
Meline laughed once.
“You thought my fiancé was calculating what he would get from divorcing me, and you still helped him marry me.”
Robert closed his eyes.
“I needed the loan.”
There it was again.
The same answer.
The same excuse.
Rebecca leaned forward.
“What else?”
Robert hesitated.
“Jason suggested postponing the refinancing until after the honeymoon.”
“Why?”
“He said married signatures would make things cleaner.”
Robert looked at Meline.
“And he said once you came back, everything would be easier.”
Meline remembered their honeymoon plan.
A remote resort in Costa Rica.
Private villa.
Cliffside roads.
Boat excursions.
Suddenly, details she had considered romantic felt different.
Rebecca’s voice became careful.
“Did he ever threaten her?”
“No.”
“Mention hurting her?”
“No.”
“Purchase insurance?”
“I don’t know.”
Meline stood.
This was enough.
Not evidence of a murder plan.
But enough to justify a much deeper investigation.
Robert looked at her.
“Meline.”
She stopped.
“I did love you.”
She turned slowly.
He looked desperate.
“You were my daughter before any of this.”
“Before?”
Her voice sharpened.
“When exactly did I stop being your daughter and become a credit score?”
Robert looked away.
Meline nodded.
“That’s what I thought.”
She walked out.
In the parking lot, Rebecca caught up.
“There’s something you need to prepare for.”
“What?”
“If prosecutors find evidence Jason intended physical harm, this case will become much darker.”
Meline looked toward the city skyline.
“He didn’t get the chance.”
“No.”
Rebecca paused.
“Because you went back for a bracelet.”
Meline thought about that.
One forgotten maid-of-honor gift.
One trip to Sydney’s condo.
A few minutes earlier or later, and she might have walked down the aisle without knowing anything.
Her phone buzzed.
Terrence.
I got the paternity results.
Meline stared at the message.
May you like
Then another arrived.
Jason isn’t the father.
