Martin's office was in a low brick building on the edge of the business district, above a shop that sold stationery and office supplies. I arrived with Brenda on the following Tuesday, carrying the folder Ms. Patel had helped me organize. Brenda brought her own documents in a thick envelope secured with an elastic band.
We had agreed to meet Martin together because neither of us wanted to rely on a secondhand account of what he said. Before leaving home, I had called Ms. Patel's office to confirm that the meeting was appropriate. She reminded me not to sign anything or accept any financial arrangement without having the documents reviewed.
Martin greeted us in a small reception area and led us to a conference room. He was a neatly dressed man in his fifties, with silver hair and a habit of pausing before he answered questions. A laptop sat on the table beside two stacks of files.
“I appreciate your patience,” he said. “Some of these records are old, and I want to be careful about what I can properly share.”
I placed my folder on the table.
“I'm not asking you to reveal information that I'm not entitled to see,” I said. “I want to understand the references to my name, my son, and the accounts Garrett described as old.”
Martin nodded.
“That is a reasonable request.”
He began by explaining that he had done bookkeeping and tax preparation for Garrett during the final years of our marriage and for a period afterward. His work had involved several personal and business accounts, though he emphasized that he had not managed every financial decision Garrett made.
“Were any of those accounts connected to me?” I asked.
“Some records contain your name because you were married at the time. Whether you had a legal interest in the accounts is a separate question.”
He opened a folder and turned his laptop toward us.
The first documents were familiar: a joint account, household expenses, and payments that matched the statements I had brought. Then he showed us a set of records with a different account reference. The dates overlapped with the months before Garrett filed for divorce.
I leaned closer.
“I've never seen this account.”
“That may be because it wasn't a joint account,” Martin said. “It was listed under Garrett's name.”
“Did he disclose it during the divorce?”
“I can't answer that without reviewing the final disclosure documents and the rules that applied at the time. I can tell you that the account existed and that there were transfers between it and another account.”
Brenda shifted in her chair.
“What was the money for?”
Martin looked at the documents.
“Some transfers appear to have been routine. Others were marked as temporary reserves. I don't have enough information to say what each payment represented.”
“Then why did Garrett ask my mother to keep track of Samantha and Liam?” Brenda asked. “He was paying her and asking for updates. What did that have to do with these accounts?”
Martin folded his hands.
“I don't know the full reason for the arrangement. Garrett told me he wanted to maintain some distance from his former household while certain financial matters were being settled. He also said he wanted to know whether his son was doing well.”
I felt a familiar anger rise.
“He could have asked me directly.”
“Yes,” Martin said. “He could have.”
“Did you advise him to avoid us?”
“No.”
“Did you tell him he had no obligation to support his child?”
“No.”
His answers were plain and unembellished. I couldn't tell whether he was uncomfortable or simply accustomed to separating professional records from personal decisions.
He opened another file.
“This is the part I think you should discuss with your legal adviser. There are references to a liability associated with the joint household finances. The notes indicate that Garrett believed it had been addressed, but I can't confirm whether it was fully resolved.”
I studied the page.
The amount was close to one of the debts I had paid during the first year after our divorce. The date, however, didn't match the payment record I had kept.
“Could this be the same debt?”
“It could be related. I would need to compare the original account documents.”
I pulled the relevant statement from my folder and laid it beside his copy. Martin examined both, then made a note.
“This is worth investigating,” he said. “But I don't want you to assume that the difference proves anyone took money improperly. There may be an explanation in the missing records.”
Brenda leaned forward.
“What about the payments to Evelyn?”
Martin looked at her.
“I knew that Garrett made payments to her. I was told they were personal assistance.”
“Did he tell you she was watching Liam?”
“No. I learned about that only recently, when you contacted me.”
I thought about Evelyn's account of Garrett's requests. She had believed that she was helping him maintain a connection to his son. Martin had believed the payments were personal assistance. Brenda had believed her mother was struggling financially.
Garrett had apparently allowed each person to understand only the portion of the arrangement that suited him.
“Were the payments recorded as expenses?” I asked.
“Some were recorded as personal transfers. I can't say more without checking the underlying records.”
“Can you provide copies of anything that directly involves me?”
“I can identify the records that may be relevant, but I'll need to confirm what can be released. If your legal adviser sends a formal request, I can respond through the appropriate process.”
I thanked him and wrote down the steps he recommended.
Before we left, Martin showed us one final document. It was a short note attached to a record from several years earlier.
The handwriting was Garrett's.
The note stated that he wanted to keep the information about his former household separate from his current personal arrangements. It referred to the need for discretion and warned against sending correspondence to an address that might be seen by me.
I read it slowly.
“Why would he be concerned about me seeing his correspondence?”
Martin shook his head.
“I can't tell you what he intended. I can only show you what was recorded.”
Brenda looked pale.
“He was still hiding things years after the divorce.”
I folded my hands on the table.
“Then we need to find out what those things were.”
Martin agreed to review the remaining archived records and respond to a written request from Ms. Patel's office. He did not promise that the records would answer every question, but he acknowledged that the dates and references were worth examining.
Outside, Brenda and I stood beside the building for a few moments before walking toward the car park.
“I feel sick,” she said.
“Because of what we found?”
“Because I keep thinking about how easily I believed him. He could tell me something with a straight face, and I'd spend months trying to understand why the facts didn't match.”
I unlocked the car.
“You weren't the only person who believed him.”
She looked at me.
“I know. But I was living with him. I should have asked more questions.”
“You did ask questions. He gave you answers that sounded reasonable until you had enough information to see through them.”
She nodded, though she still looked troubled.
On the drive back, I kept thinking about the note concerning correspondence. Garrett had not simply been careless about privacy. He had taken steps to keep information from reaching me.
That didn't establish exactly what he had hidden, but it made one thing clear: he had known there were facts I might reasonably want to understand.
When I arrived home, Liam was sitting on the porch with his schoolbag beside him. He had finished his homework early and was watching a small bird hop along the edge of the flower bed.
“How was your meeting?” he asked.
“It was useful.”
“Did you find out why Dad left?”
I sat beside him.
“Not completely.”
He picked at a loose thread on his sleeve.
“Do you think he misses me?”
I had no evidence that Garrett did. I also had no way of knowing what he felt in private.
“I think he knows he has a son,” I said. “I think he's made choices that kept him away from you. Whether he misses you is something only he can answer honestly.”
Liam stared at the bird.
“Would you let him see me if he asked?”
The question was so quiet that I nearly missed it.
I took my time before answering.
“If he ever asks to see you, we would talk about it carefully. Your safety and your feelings would matter. I wouldn't force you to meet him, and I wouldn't promise him anything before understanding what he wanted.”
He nodded.
“Okay.”
I put my arm around his shoulders. He leaned against me briefly, then stood and carried his bag inside.
I remained on the porch, looking at the street.
I had spent years believing that my job was to protect Liam from the pain of his father's absence. Now I was beginning to understand that protecting him also meant refusing to let Garrett return whenever it suited him and rewrite the terms of their relationship.
The next morning, Ms. Patel called to say she had reviewed the information Martin provided. She wanted copies of the documents and planned to determine whether the account references affected my old settlement. She was careful not to promise a result.
“We need to establish what the records actually show,” she said. “Then we can decide what action, if any, is appropriate.”
I agreed.
That afternoon, Brenda sent me a message saying she had received an email from Garrett. He had asked why she was contacting Martin and whether she had been discussing his finances with me.
She had not replied.
I called her.
“Don't answer while you're upset,” I said. “Save the message and let your adviser review it if necessary.”
“He knows we're looking.”
“Perhaps. That doesn't mean we should stop.”
Brenda was silent for a moment.
“He asked whether you've been telling Liam things about him.”
My stomach tightened.
“What did he say exactly?”
She read the message aloud. Garrett had written that he didn't want the boy confused by adult disputes and that any discussion of their relationship should be handled carefully.
The words sounded reasonable on their own. But I could hear the same pattern that had followed us for years: Garrett presenting himself as the person concerned with everyone's well-being while avoiding the questions that mattered.
“I'm not going to involve Liam in the financial investigation,” I said. “But I'm also not going to pretend his father has been present in his life when he hasn't.”
“That's what I told him,” Brenda replied. “He didn't like it.”
I almost smiled.
For once, Garrett had encountered a person who wouldn't accept his explanation simply because he delivered it confidently.
I ended the call and went upstairs to check on Liam. He was working on a new cardboard project, this time using a cereal box and some wooden craft sticks.
He looked up when I entered.
“Mom, do you think people should get another chance?”
I sat on the edge of his bed.
“Sometimes. But another chance doesn't mean pretending nothing happened. It means seeing whether someone is willing to behave differently.”
He thought about that.
“Then they have to show it.”
“Yes,” I said. “They do.”
He returned to his work, and I watched him for a moment before leaving the room.
Martin's records had not solved the mystery, but they had given us something we hadn't possessed before: evidence that could be examined, dates that could be checked, and questions that no longer depended entirely on Garrett's willingness to answer.
I wasn't ready to confront him.
But I was ready to stop letting his silence determine what happened next.
Click here to continue reading: PART 12: Garrett Finally Contacted Me Directly, and His First Question Proved He Still Didn’t Understand What His Absence Had Cost Our Son
Twenty Minutes After I Finally Trusted My Son to Walk Home Alone, My Neighbor Was Waiting With Tears in Her Eyes
Part 11 of 20
