“And they offered you money.”
“They offered me money to become her husband and assume responsibility for her future.”
“That’s sick.”
“Yes.”
“And you signed.”
“Yes.”
I stepped away from him.
“I still don’t understand.”
Daniel’s eyes filled.
“Because if I refused, they were moving her to Hawthorne Ridge that summer.”
The anger drained out of me just enough for the truth to get through.
“You signed it to stop them.”
“I signed it because I was going to marry Grace anyway.”
He wiped his face.
“The contract gave me time. Once we were married, Grace could leave your parents’ house. We got her legal representation separate from your father. We changed medical authorizations. We moved her money where he couldn’t make decisions alone.”
I looked at the account on his phone.
“And the payments?”
“I knew if I refused them, your father would become suspicious. So every payment went straight into an account for Grace.”
“All of it?”
“Every dollar.”
“Did Grace know?”
Daniel was silent.
That silence hurt.
“When?”
“A year after we married.”
I stared at him.
“You told her?”
“I couldn’t keep waking up next to her knowing there was something about our marriage she didn’t know.”
“What did she do?”
Daniel gave a broken little laugh.
“She threw a cereal bowl at me.”
Despite everything, I almost smiled.