The Father’s Version of Sacrifice
Chapter 07 - The Father’s Version of Sacrifice
Richard described himself as a father who sacrificed everything.
He attended surgeries.
He slept in hospital chairs.
He learned medication schedules.
He drove through snow for specialist appointments.
All of that was true.
He also falsified bills.
He redirected funds.
He told Claire that expensive treatments were financially destroying the family while using reimbursements to expand his businesses.
Love and exploitation had lived beside each other.
Richard used the loving acts as proof the exploitation could not exist.
Naomi rejected that logic.
“A person can provide care and still commit fraud against the person receiving it.”
Richard became angry.
“You reduce thirty years of fatherhood to accounting.”
Claire answered.
“No. The accounting shows what you did during those thirty years.”
He had expected the role of father to transform every financial decision into family authority.
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The trust existed because Eleanor knew roles were not safeguards.
Rules were.
