Not because she felt sorry for me.
Not because some investigator had noticed we shared the same eyes.
Biologically.
My mother.
For years, I had imagined dozens of explanations for why I had been abandoned.
None of them included a woman spending nearly three decades trying to find me.
“You didn’t leave me?” I asked.
Victoria’s composure broke.
“Never.”
The word came out almost soundless.
She took both my hands.
“I was told you were gone.
I believed I had failed you before I ever got to raise you.
When we found your foster records, I was afraid to hope.
When the DNA came back, I wanted to come to you immediately.
Then my investigator learned about this hearing.”
Her gaze moved toward Ethan.
“And about him.”
Ethan shifted in his chair.
Judge Reynolds turned another page.
“That brings us to the second matter.”
My attorney stepped closer to the bench.
“Your Honor, may I review those records?”
The judge handed her several pages.
Her expression changed almost instantly.
“Where did these come from?”
Victoria answered, “A forensic accounting team.”
Ethan’s attorney stood.
“We object to the characterization of unauthenticated financial materials being introduced without notice.”
“Noted,” Judge Reynolds said.
“At the moment, I am determining whether representations made to this court require further inquiry.”
He looked at Ethan.
“Mr.
Walker, during these proceedings, you represented that several business interests had declined substantially in value and that certain accounts previously associated with you had been closed.
Correct?”
Ethan swallowed.
“Based on information provided by my accountants, yes.”
Victoria almost smiled.
“Then his accountants have an extraordinary imagination.”
Her team had traced transfers made during the months before Ethan filed for divorce.
Money had moved through holding companies whose ownership was difficult to see from ordinary statements.
Assets had been shifted into entities controlled indirectly through associates.
One property I had heard Ethan discuss years ago as an investment had supposedly been sold at a loss.
It had not been lost at all.
Control had simply been moved.
The amounts made my stomach turn.
Millions.
Money Ethan had sat across from me and insisted no longer existed.
Money his financial disclosures had made look unreachable or gone.
“That’s not hidden money,” Ethan snapped.
“Those are corporate assets.
Madison has never had anything to do with my companies.”
My attorney looked up from the records.
“Some of these transfers occurred after the divorce was contemplated.”
“Business restructuring.”
“And some appear to have been made to entities you control.”
