My daughter needed another.

I gave her the one she needed.

Chapter 12 — A Hundred and Forty Thousand

The next morning, Laura and I retained a family law and estate attorney named Gabriel Salcedo, and laid everything before him: the wire transfers, the subsidized-aid applications, the forged signatures, the altered phone records.

His advice was immediate and clear.

“Do not confront your mother yet,” he said.

“Secure the financial trail first.