{"id":5273,"date":"2026-09-20T20:37:02","date_gmt":"2026-09-20T20:37:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/feelonestory.online\/?p=5273"},"modified":"2026-09-20T20:37:02","modified_gmt":"2026-09-20T20:37:02","slug":"part-10-caroline-webb-named-the-person-behind-harolds-altered-contract-and-the-truth-forced-eleanor-to-reconsider-her-husbands-final-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/feelonestory.online\/?p=5273","title":{"rendered":"PART 10 \u2013 Caroline Webb Named the Person Behind Harold\u2019s Altered Contract, and the Truth Forced Eleanor to Reconsider Her Husband\u2019s Final Years"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Caroline refused to meet at Willow Creek.<\/p>\n<p>She also refused Richard\u2019s office.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cToo obvious,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>Richard disliked the phrase enough to insist on choosing the location himself.<\/p>\n<p>The following morning, we met inside a private conference room at a hotel near the airport.<\/p>\n<p>Daniel wanted to come.<\/p>\n<p>I said no.<\/p>\n<p>He argued.<\/p>\n<p>I said no again.<\/p>\n<p>Eventually he accepted that concern did not automatically grant him access to every decision I made.<\/p>\n<p>That, more than his apology, showed me something between us really had begun changing.<\/p>\n<p>Caroline arrived twelve minutes late.<\/p>\n<p>She was in her late fifties, perhaps early sixties, with dark hair cut to her shoulders and the tense posture of someone who had spent the drive checking her mirrors.<\/p>\n<p>She recognized me immediately.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMargaret.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou knew Harold?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNot well.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut you knew about me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEveryone who dealt with Harold knew about you.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I almost smiled.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat sounds ominous.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe talked about you constantly.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That hurt in the pleasant way memories sometimes do.<\/p>\n<p>Richard closed the conference-room door.<\/p>\n<p>Caroline remained standing.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou need to understand something before I say anything.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI signed confidentiality agreements.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Richard replied, \u201cConfidentiality generally does not protect fraud.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGenerally.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf you have legal exposure, I can recommend independent counsel. I do not represent you.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She finally sat.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI worked for Mason Pike for eleven years. When he retired, Carter Development offered me a position.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause you knew the Briggs file?\u201d Richard asked.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAt the time I didn\u2019t think so.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd now?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Caroline folded her hands tightly.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThomas Carter was not the person who altered Harold\u2019s agreement.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWho was?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cVictor Hale.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Richard recognized the name.<\/p>\n<p>I did not.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWho is Victor Hale?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCarter Development\u2019s former chief operating officer.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Richard added, \u201cHe later helped negotiate the sale to Desert Crest.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>My stomach tightened.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIs he still with them?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Caroline nodded.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cExecutive vice president.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>So the old company had disappeared.<\/p>\n<p>The man had not.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat did he do?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Caroline looked toward the door.<\/p>\n<p>Then back at me.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cVictor believed the Briggs parcel was the key to the entire development corridor. Without it, Carter Development\u2019s projections dropped substantially.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThomas knew?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTom knew the land mattered. I don\u2019t believe he knew how Victor handled Harold.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Eleanor had blamed her husband.<\/p>\n<p>Perhaps wrongly.<\/p>\n<p>Caroline continued.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cVictor kept pushing Harold to extend the option. Harold refused. Then Victor obtained a scanned signature from another document.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>My stomach turned.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe forged it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid you see him do it?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThen how do you know?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause he asked me to prepare the revised agreement.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Richard leaned forward.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWith altered language?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI refused.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat happened next?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe had someone else prepare it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWho?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI never knew.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She swallowed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA week later, I saw the recorded document.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWith Harold\u2019s signature.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid you tell Thomas Carter?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Caroline closed her eyes.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEventually.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat did he do?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLost his mind.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That did not match the story Eleanor believed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe confronted Victor,\u201d Caroline continued. \u201cI heard part of it through the office wall. Tom said they would withdraw the filing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid they?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause Victor told him withdrawing it would trigger scrutiny right before financing closed on another project.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Richard\u2019s expression hardened.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd Thomas accepted that?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor a while.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The phrase mattered.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor how long?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t know exactly.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Caroline reached into her bag.<\/p>\n<p>Richard immediately told her to stop.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat are you taking out?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPaper.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She slowly removed a folded photocopy.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>It was an email.<\/p>\n<p>Thomas Carter to Victor Hale.<\/p>\n<p>The language was brief.<\/p>\n<p>Correct the Briggs filing before the company sale. I will not transfer a known false instrument to a buyer.<\/p>\n<p>I looked at the date.<\/p>\n<p>Six months before Carter Development was sold.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid he correct it?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Caroline\u2019s face changed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTom had a stroke three weeks later.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Eleanor had told me her husband died the previous year.<\/p>\n<p>She had not mentioned the earlier stroke.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe recovered partially,\u201d Caroline said. \u201cBut he never returned to work full-time. Victor handled most of the sale.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Richard read the email twice.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhere did you get this?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThomas copied me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause by then he knew I had seen too much.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd the missing page from Mason\u2019s file?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI wrote it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I stared at her.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou were D?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThen who?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDonna Mercer.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The name meant nothing to me.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe worked in records.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAlive?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhere?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPhoenix, last I knew.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat did Donna do?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe discovered the recorded amendment had been created from a file that did not match the document-control history.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Richard nodded.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMetadata.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy did Mason remember D but not you?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause Donna was the confidential source. I helped get the information to Harold through Mason.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid Victor know?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think he suspected.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat happened to Donna?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe resigned.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTwo weeks after she contacted Harold.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cVoluntarily?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Caroline hesitated.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTechnically.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I hated that word.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMeaning?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe was accused of mishandling confidential records.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Richard wrote down the name.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy did you call us now?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Caroline looked at me.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause Victor called me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYesterday.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat did he want?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTo know whether Mason still had Harold\u2019s original agreement.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The room became silent.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid you tell him?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDoes he know we met Mason?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cProbably.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I thought of the SUV.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWas that you outside my house?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Caroline shook her head immediately.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDo you drive a dark SUV?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat does Victor drive?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe has drivers now. Company vehicles.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Richard asked for descriptions.<\/p>\n<p>She gave him what she knew.<\/p>\n<p>Then I asked the question that had been bothering me.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf Thomas Carter wanted the false filing corrected, why did Eleanor believe he was responsible?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Caroline looked genuinely pained.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause Tom never told her.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe was ashamed.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The answer echoed Eleanor\u2019s own explanation.<\/p>\n<p>Shame, apparently, had been passed from husband to wife like an inheritance.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid Tom know Harold personally?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid they hate each other?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Caroline smiled faintly.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey fought constantly.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat wasn\u2019t my question.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo. I don\u2019t think they hated each other.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She considered.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTom respected Harold because Harold couldn\u2019t be intimidated. Victor hated him for exactly the same reason.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>When the meeting ended, Richard arranged for Caroline to speak with independent counsel and provide a formal statement.<\/p>\n<p>I called Eleanor.<\/p>\n<p>She answered immediately.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI need to see you.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIs something wrong?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She heard it in my voice.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCome over.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Eleanor was pruning a potted rosemary plant when we arrived.<\/p>\n<p>She took one look at Richard\u2019s folder and put the shears down.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat did you find?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I handed her Thomas\u2019s email.<\/p>\n<p>She read it.<\/p>\n<p>Then read it again.<\/p>\n<p>Her knees seemed to weaken.<\/p>\n<p>I pulled out a chair.<\/p>\n<p>She sat.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhere did you get this?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCaroline Webb.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Eleanor looked up sharply.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCaroline?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou know her?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe worked with Tom.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe says Victor Hale altered Harold\u2019s contract.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Eleanor\u2019s face changed from confusion to something closer to horror.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe says Thomas discovered it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe ordered Victor to correct the filing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The word became smaller each time.<\/p>\n<p>I sat opposite her.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEleanor.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe told me he made mistakes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI believe he did.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe said the Briggs land was one of them.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat may still be true.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut I thought\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Her voice broke.<\/p>\n<p>I waited.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI thought he forged Harold\u2019s signature.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause after the stroke, Tom tried to tell me something.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe said, \u2018Briggs was right. I let it happen.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Richard leaned forward.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cExact words?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAs close as I remember.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe didn\u2019t say he altered the document.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou interpreted it that way.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She covered her mouth.<\/p>\n<p>For more than a year, Eleanor had apparently carried the belief that the man she loved had committed fraud.<\/p>\n<p>Now the truth was not clean enough to absolve him completely.<\/p>\n<p>Thomas had learned about the false filing.<\/p>\n<p>He had delayed correcting it.<\/p>\n<p>He had allowed fear for his company to override what he knew was right.<\/p>\n<p>But he had eventually tried.<\/p>\n<p>Human beings rarely gave us the convenience of being wholly guilty or wholly innocent.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat happened after his stroke?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cVictor handled almost everything.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid Tom trust him?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBefore? Completely.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd afterward?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She stood abruptly.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI have something.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She disappeared down the hall.<\/p>\n<p>When she returned, she carried a small leather case.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI found this in Tom\u2019s desk after he died.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Inside was a digital voice recorder.<\/p>\n<p>Richard looked at it as though Eleanor had just produced buried treasure.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHave you listened to it?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSome.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat\u2019s on it?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNotes. Tom dictated reminders after his stroke because writing became difficult.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnything about Victor?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Richard did not touch the recorder.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe need a forensic copy before anyone searches it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Eleanor almost laughed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEverything has become evidence.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Her smile vanished.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI suppose it has.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A specialist copied the recorder that afternoon.<\/p>\n<p>By evening, we had an index of dozens of short recordings.<\/p>\n<p>Most were ordinary.<\/p>\n<p>Call accountant.<\/p>\n<p>Ask Eleanor about dinner.<\/p>\n<p>Physical therapy Thursday.<\/p>\n<p>Then we found one recorded three months before Thomas died.<\/p>\n<p>Victor came today. Still refuses Briggs correction. Says Desert Crest purchased the option as represented and fixing it now exposes everyone. Told him I won\u2019t carry this into the grave.<\/p>\n<p>Eleanor began crying silently.<\/p>\n<p>I reached for her hand.<\/p>\n<p>The next recording was dated four days later.<\/p>\n<p>Need to contact Margaret Briggs if Harold is gone. Eleanor can find her. Papers in blue file.<\/p>\n<p>Eleanor looked at me.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe knew your name.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe wanted me to find you.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd I didn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou didn\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI had the files.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou were grieving.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo were you.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Neither of us had an answer to that.<\/p>\n<p>Then Richard found another recording.<\/p>\n<p>Thomas\u2019s voice was weaker.<\/p>\n<p>If anything happens before I fix this, original Carter ledger shows Victor ordered revised filing. Ledger moved off-site. Storage unit under old company account. Caroline knows facility.<\/p>\n<p>Richard stopped playback.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCaroline never mentioned a ledger.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMaybe she doesn\u2019t know,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n<p>He called her.<\/p>\n<p>She answered.<\/p>\n<p>When he asked about the storage facility, Caroline went silent.<\/p>\n<p>Then she said, \u201cThat unit should have been emptied years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWas it?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhere is it?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She gave him the name of a storage company outside Phoenix.<\/p>\n<p>Richard called immediately.<\/p>\n<p>The old Carter Development account still existed.<\/p>\n<p>One unit remained active.<\/p>\n<p>The fees were being paid automatically.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBy whom?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n<p>The facility manager would not disclose that without authorization.<\/p>\n<p>Richard began arranging it.<\/p>\n<p>Eleanor sat beside me.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf that ledger is there, does it prove Victor did it?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMaybe.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd Tom?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt may prove he tried to correct it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She looked down at her husband\u2019s recorder.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI spent a year angry at a dead man for the wrong thing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I squeezed her hand.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPerhaps be angry at him for the right thing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She laughed through her tears.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHarold would have liked you.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe occasionally did.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>My phone rang.<\/p>\n<p>Daniel.<\/p>\n<p>I stepped outside.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEverything okay?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>My stomach tightened.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat happened?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRenee found out how much the Tucson land might be worth.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDaniel.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI honestly don\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>His voice was strained.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe says somebody called her.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWho?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey wouldn\u2019t give a name.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat did they say?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat you were sitting on land worth millions while we were drowning in debt.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Cold moved through me.<\/p>\n<p>This was not curiosity anymore.<\/p>\n<p>Someone was deliberately pushing information into my family.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat did Renee do?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Daniel was silent.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDaniel?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe asked me to request money from the trust.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid you?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAre you going to?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Relief came first.<\/p>\n<p>Then suspicion.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy would someone call Renee?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI was hoping you knew.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I looked through Eleanor\u2019s window at Richard standing over Thomas Carter\u2019s recorder.<\/p>\n<p>Victor Hale had spent years trying to control Harold through pressure.<\/p>\n<p>Now someone was attempting to pressure me through my son.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDaniel,\u201d I said, \u201cdo not respond to anyone who contacts you about my finances.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI won\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd tell Renee the same.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Another silence.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe already called the number back.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>My stomach dropped.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid anyone answer?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWho?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Daniel exhaled.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA man who said he could help us get what Dad intended us to have.\u201d<\/p>\n<hr>\n<h2><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/feelonestory.online\/?p=5274\">Click here to continue reading: PART 11: Renee Met the Stranger Who Promised Her Family Money, and Daniel Had to Choose Whether Protecting Me Was Worth Losing Her Trust<\/a><\/strong><\/h2>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Caroline refused to meet at Willow Creek. She also refused Richard\u2019s office. \u201cToo obvious,\u201d she said. Richard disliked the phrase enough to insist on choosing the location himself. The following &hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5263,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5273","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-feel-one-story"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/feelonestory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5273","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/feelonestory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/feelonestory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/feelonestory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/feelonestory.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5273"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/feelonestory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5273\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5301,"href":"https:\/\/feelonestory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5273\/revisions\/5301"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/feelonestory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/5263"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/feelonestory.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5273"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/feelonestory.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5273"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/feelonestory.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5273"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}