She didn’t.
She had believed the insurance settlement was being used to pay her medical expenses and restore the house.
Some expenses had been paid, but the records showed that money had also been diverted elsewhere.
My mother asked my father to explain.
He told her she was confused because of her medication.
When she asked again, he accused her of being ungrateful.
Then he reminded her that he had stayed with her for months after the fire.
That was when she understood how he intended to use her suffering against her.
Morgan offered to help her obtain independent financial advice and request a full accounting of the money.
But my mother was overwhelmed. She was trying to recover physically, care for me, and understand how the man she had married could treat her this way.
She asked Morgan for time.
He gave her time.
Eventually, my father left.
The financial questions were never fully resolved between them. The business collapsed, Morgan and Daniel ended their partnership, and the records remained tucked away in a file Morgan had kept.
