PART 5
\nThe clock on my dashboard read 11:37 PM.
\nNeither David nor I had spoken much during the drive downtown.
\nThe city lights reflected across the windshield.
\nAustin looked beautiful.
\nNormal.
\nPeaceful.
\nWhich felt almost offensive considering how chaotic my life had become.
\nThe address led to an older office building near the edge of downtown.
\nNot abandoned.
\nBut close.<\/p>\n
Most of the windows were dark.
\nOnly a few floors remained lit.
\nDavid parked across the street.
\nFor several moments neither of us moved.
\nFinally he broke the silence.
\n\u201cThis could be a trap.\u201d
\n\u201cIt probably is.\u201d
\n\u201cAnd we\u2019re still going?\u201d
\n\u201cYes.\u201d
\nHe nodded.
\nThat answer seemed to satisfy him.<\/p>\n
Or maybe he was too exhausted to argue.<\/p>\n
The elevator inside the building moved painfully slowly.<\/p>\n
Every second felt longer than it should.<\/p>\n
Floor 3.<\/p>\n
Floor 4.<\/p>\n
Floor 5.<\/p>\n
Floor 6.<\/p>\n
The doors opened.<\/p>\n
A long hallway stretched before us.<\/p>\n
Mostly dark.<\/p>\n
One office light glowed at the far end.<\/p>\n
My pulse quickened.<\/p>\n
David walked slightly ahead.<\/p>\n
Protective.<\/p>\n
Instinctively.<\/p>\n
The same way he used to when we crossed busy streets years ago.<\/p>\n
The memory annoyed me.<\/p>\n
Because part of me still noticed those things.<\/p>\n
Part of me still remembered who he used to be.<\/p>\n
The office door was already open.<\/p>\n
Inside sat a woman.<\/p>\n
Jessica.<\/p>\n
She looked exactly like the photographs.<\/p>\n
Professional.<\/p>\n
Calm.<\/p>\n
Sharp eyes.<\/p>\n
But tonight she looked exhausted.<\/p>\n
Not the exhaustion of work.<\/p>\n
The exhaustion of carrying something heavy for too long.<\/p>\n
When she saw us, she stood immediately.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou came.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou sent the letter?\u201d<\/p>\n
I asked.<\/p>\n
She nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
David stepped forward.<\/p>\n
\u201cStart talking.\u201d<\/p>\n
No greeting.<\/p>\n
No small talk.<\/p>\n
No patience.<\/p>\n
Jessica didn\u2019t seem offended.<\/p>\n
She looked relieved.<\/p>\n
Like she\u2019d been waiting months for someone to finally ask.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou deserve the truth.\u201d<\/p>\n
Then she reached into a desk drawer.<\/p>\n
And pulled out a thick binder.<\/p>\n
My stomach sank.<\/p>\n
I was starting to hate binders.<\/p>\n
Every life-changing revelation lately seemed to arrive inside one.<\/p>\n
Jessica placed it on the desk.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are copies.\u201d<\/p>\n
David frowned.<\/p>\n
\u201cCopies of what?\u201d<\/p>\n
She looked directly at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cEverything.\u201d<\/p>\n
The room became very quiet.<\/p>\n
Then she opened the binder.<\/p>\n
Emails.<\/p>\n
Messages.<\/p>\n
Bank transfers.<\/p>\n
Recorded conversations.<\/p>\n
Screenshots.<\/p>\n
Dozens.<\/p>\n
Hundreds.<\/p>\n
Possibly thousands.<\/p>\n
I flipped through the first section.<\/p>\n
My hands began trembling almost immediately.<\/p>\n
Because there was Victoria.<\/p>\n
Not once.<\/p>\n
Not twice.<\/p>\n
Repeatedly.<\/p>\n
Email after email.<\/p>\n
Message after message.<\/p>\n
Communication spanning years.<\/p>\n
Not months.<\/p>\n
Years.<\/p>\n
David\u2019s face drained of color.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jessica nodded sadly.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m sorry.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
He grabbed another page.<\/p>\n
Then another.<\/p>\n
Then another.<\/p>\n
Each one made things worse.<\/p>\n
Far worse.<\/p>\n
One message from Marcus read:<\/p>\n
She\u2019s earning more than him now. Eventually she\u2019ll leave.<\/p>\n
Victoria\u2019s response:<\/p>\n
Not if he leaves first.<\/p>\n
My stomach twisted.<\/p>\n
David looked physically ill.<\/p>\n
Jessica continued.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey spoke almost weekly.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFor what?\u201d<\/p>\n
I asked.<\/p>\n
Jessica hesitated.<\/p>\n
Then answered.<\/p>\n
\u201cControl.\u201d<\/p>\n
The word landed heavily.<\/p>\n
Because it fit.<\/p>\n
Too well.<\/p>\n
Victoria had never wanted a daughter-in-law.<\/p>\n
She wanted an employee.<\/p>\n
Someone to cook.<\/p>\n
Someone to provide.<\/p>\n
Someone to sacrifice.<\/p>\n
Someone who never complained.<\/p>\n
Someone who never stopped giving.<\/p>\n
And when I finally stopped\u2026<\/p>\n
The entire system collapsed.<\/p>\n
Jessica turned several pages.<\/p>\n
Then stopped.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is where things changed.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked down.<\/p>\n
The date.<\/p>\n
Two years earlier.<\/p>\n
Months before David first started talking about Marcus.<\/p>\n
Months before separate finances.<\/p>\n
Months before everything.<\/p>\n
The email chain was brief.<\/p>\n
But devastating.<\/p>\n
Marcus:<\/p>\n
I think I can influence him.<\/p>\n
Victoria:<\/p>\n
Do it.<\/p>\n
My entire body went cold.<\/p>\n
David looked frozen.<\/p>\n
Like someone had unplugged him.<\/p>\n
\u201cInfluence him?\u201d<\/p>\n
he whispered.<\/p>\n
Jessica nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey started targeting you.\u201d<\/p>\n
Silence.<\/p>\n
\u201cTargeting?\u201d<\/p>\n
David asked.<\/p>\n
Jessica pointed toward another message.<\/p>\n
Marcus:<\/p>\n
Men listen to men.<\/p>\n
Victoria:<\/p>\n
He trusts people too easily.<\/p>\n
Marcus:<\/p>\n
Give me six months.<\/p>\n
I watched David read the words.<\/p>\n
Again.<\/p>\n
And again.<\/p>\n
And again.<\/p>\n
As if repetition might somehow change them.<\/p>\n
It didn\u2019t.<\/p>\n
The truth remained ugly.<\/p>\n
Somewhere along the way, his own mother had volunteered him for manipulation.<\/p>\n
Not because she loved him.<\/p>\n
Because she wanted control.<\/p>\n
Jessica quietly sat down.<\/p>\n
\u201cI tried reporting him.\u201d<\/p>\n
David looked up.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt didn\u2019t work.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat do you mean?\u201d<\/p>\n
Her laugh contained no humor.<\/p>\n
\u201cHR punished him. That\u2019s all.\u201d<\/p>\n
The room grew quiet.<\/p>\n
Then Jessica pulled out another folder.<\/p>\n
Smaller.<\/p>\n
Red.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is the part I couldn\u2019t include in the letter.\u201d<\/p>\n
My stomach dropped.<\/p>\n
Because every time someone said that lately, my life got worse.<\/p>\n
She opened it.<\/p>\n
Inside were photographs.<\/p>\n
Not surveillance photos.<\/p>\n
Family photos.<\/p>\n
Old photos.<\/p>\n
Years old.<\/p>\n
Some looked nearly a decade old.<\/p>\n
Victoria appeared in several.<\/p>\n
Marcus appeared too.<\/p>\n
Together.<\/p>\n
At restaurants.<\/p>\n
Events.<\/p>\n
Parties.<\/p>\n
Christmas gatherings.<\/p>\n
Birthdays.<\/p>\n
I stared.<\/p>\n
Then stared harder.<\/p>\n
Then looked at David.<\/p>\n
David looked like someone had punched him.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat is this?\u201d<\/p>\n
Jessica swallowed.<\/p>\n
Then said the sentence that shattered everything.<\/p>\n
\u201cMarcus isn\u2019t a stranger to your family.\u201d<\/p>\n
Silence.<\/p>\n
Absolute silence.<\/p>\n
David blinked.<\/p>\n
Once.<\/p>\n
Twice.<\/p>\n
Three times.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
Jessica carefully slid one final photograph across the desk.<\/p>\n
The oldest one.<\/p>\n
Nearly fifteen years old.<\/p>\n
The image showed a much younger Victoria.<\/p>\n
Standing beside a man.<\/p>\n
Her arm wrapped around him.<\/p>\n
Not casually.<\/p>\n
Not platonically.<\/p>\n
Intimately.<\/p>\n
Very intimately.<\/p>\n
My heart pounded.<\/p>\n
Because I already knew what Jessica was about to say.<\/p>\n
I just didn\u2019t want to hear it.<\/p>\n
David looked at the photo.<\/p>\n
Then at Jessica.<\/p>\n
Then back at the photo.<\/p>\n
His voice barely worked.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jessica nodded.<\/p>\n
Slowly.<\/p>\n
Painfully.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m sorry.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDavid\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
His hands shook.<\/p>\n
For the first time since I\u2019d known him, I saw genuine panic.<\/p>\n
The kind that comes from realizing your entire history might be a lie.<\/p>\n
Jessica inhaled carefully.<\/p>\n
Then delivered the truth.<\/p>\n
\u201cMarcus and Victoria had an affair.\u201d<\/p>\n
The room exploded.<\/p>\n
Not physically.<\/p>\n
Emotionally.<\/p>\n
David stood so quickly his chair crashed backward.<\/p>\n
\u201cNO.\u201d<\/p>\n
His voice echoed through the office.<\/p>\n
Jessica didn\u2019t flinch.<\/p>\n
Because she\u2019d expected this.<\/p>\n
Anyone would.<\/p>\n
The binder sat open on the desk.<\/p>\n
Filled with evidence.<\/p>\n
Years of it.<\/p>\n
Photographs.<\/p>\n
Messages.<\/p>\n
Receipts.<\/p>\n
Hotel bookings.<\/p>\n
Transfers.<\/p>\n
Communication.<\/p>\n
History.<\/p>\n
A hidden life.<\/p>\n
A second life.<\/p>\n
One that existed long before I entered the picture.<\/p>\n
David stared at the photographs.<\/p>\n
His breathing became uneven.<\/p>\n
Then he whispered something that chilled me.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy father\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
Jessica lowered her eyes.<\/p>\n
And in that moment I knew.<\/p>\n
There was more.<\/p>\n
Much more.<\/p>\n
David saw it too.<\/p>\n
Because he immediately asked:<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat about my father?\u201d<\/p>\n
Jessica didn\u2019t answer.<\/p>\n
Which was answer enough.<\/p>\n
The silence stretched.<\/p>\n
Then finally she reached into the folder.<\/p>\n
Pulled out one last envelope.<\/p>\n
And handed it to him.<\/p>\n
David looked at it.<\/p>\n
Then at her.<\/p>\n
Then back at the envelope.<\/p>\n
Written across the front were four words.<\/p>\n
FOR DAVID ONLY.<\/p>\n
The room became so quiet I could hear the air conditioner humming.<\/p>\n
David slowly opened it.<\/p>\n
Read the first page.<\/p>\n
Then the second.<\/p>\n
Then the third.<\/p>\n
By the fourth page, he sat down.<\/p>\n
Hard.<\/p>\n
As though his legs no longer belonged to him.<\/p>\n
I had never seen him look like that.<\/p>\n
Not during our separation.<\/p>\n
Not during the fertility treatments.<\/p>\n
Not even when I kicked him out.<\/p>\n
Nothing compared to this.<\/p>\n
I moved closer.<\/p>\n
\u201cDavid?\u201d<\/p>\n
He didn\u2019t answer.<\/p>\n
\u201cDavid?\u201d<\/p>\n
Still nothing.<\/p>\n
Finally he looked up.<\/p>\n
His eyes were filled with something I\u2019d never seen before.<\/p>\n
Not anger.<\/p>\n
Not grief.<\/p>\n
Not shock.<\/p>\n
Something deeper.<\/p>\n
Something broken.<\/p>\n
Then he whispered:<\/p>\n
\u201cOh my God.\u201d<\/p>\n
My heart raced.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
His lips trembled.<\/p>\n
And then he said the sentence that changed everything.<\/p>\n
The sentence that would destroy the Miller family forever.<\/p>\n
\u201cMarcus might be my biological father.\u201d<\/p>\n
PART 6<\/p>\n
\u201cMarcus might be my biological father.\u201d<\/p>\n
The words hung in the air like smoke.<\/p>\n
Nobody moved.<\/p>\n
Nobody spoke.<\/p>\n
For several seconds I honestly thought I had misheard him.<\/p>\n
Jessica looked down.<\/p>\n
Which told me everything.<\/p>\n
Because if the statement had been ridiculous, she would have corrected it immediately.<\/p>\n
Instead, she looked heartbroken.<\/p>\n
David stared at the papers in his hands.<\/p>\n
His entire face had gone pale.<\/p>\n
I had seen him angry.<\/p>\n
I had seen him ashamed.<\/p>\n
I had seen him humiliated.<\/p>\n
But I had never seen him look erased.<\/p>\n
As if someone had reached into his chest and pulled out the foundation of his identity.<\/p>\n
Slowly, he looked up.<\/p>\n
\u201cTell me this isn\u2019t real.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jessica swallowed.<\/p>\n
\u201cI can\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n
The room felt smaller.<\/p>\n
Colder.<\/p>\n
David laughed.<\/p>\n
A strange laugh.<\/p>\n
The kind people make when reality becomes too absurd to process.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
He shook his head.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
Then louder.<\/p>\n
\u201cNO.\u201d<\/p>\n
The office walls echoed with his voice.<\/p>\n
I stepped closer.<\/p>\n
\u201cDavid\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
He backed away.<\/p>\n
Not from me.<\/p>\n
From everyone.<\/p>\n
From the truth.<\/p>\n
From the possibility.<\/p>\n
His eyes landed on the photographs again.<\/p>\n
The old pictures.<\/p>\n
The hotel receipts.<\/p>\n
The messages.<\/p>\n
The dates.<\/p>\n
The years.<\/p>\n
All the evidence pointing toward the same terrible possibility.<\/p>\n
Jessica finally spoke.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know for certain.\u201d<\/p>\n
David looked at her desperately.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen why would you say it?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause the timeline fits.\u201d<\/p>\n
The silence returned.<\/p>\n
Jessica opened another folder.<\/p>\n
\u201cI hired a private investigator.\u201d<\/p>\n
David stared.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou what?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter Marcus started targeting employees.\u201d<\/p>\n
My stomach tightened.<\/p>\n
This was bigger than we thought.<\/p>\n
Much bigger.<\/p>\n
Jessica continued.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt first I was only trying to gather evidence for HR.\u201d<\/p>\n
She pointed toward the photographs.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen I started finding connections.\u201d<\/p>\n
She slid several pages across the desk.<\/p>\n
Old records.<\/p>\n
Property records.<\/p>\n
Phone records.<\/p>\n
Archived social media screenshots.<\/p>\n
Things that most people would never find.<\/p>\n
But investigators do.<\/p>\n
And what they found was ugly.<\/p>\n
Very ugly.<\/p>\n
Victoria and Marcus had maintained contact for nearly twenty-five years.<\/p>\n
Twenty-five.<\/p>\n
Years.<\/p>\n
Not occasional contact.<\/p>\n
Not old-friend contact.<\/p>\n
Constant contact.<\/p>\n
Hidden contact.<\/p>\n
The kind of contact people work very hard to conceal.<\/p>\n
David stared at the dates.<\/p>\n
Then whispered:<\/p>\n
\u201cMy dad died believing she loved him.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nobody answered.<\/p>\n
Because nobody knew what to say.<\/p>\n
The pain in that sentence filled the room.<\/p>\n
David\u2019s father had been dead for eight years.<\/p>\n
Heart attack.<\/p>\n
I remembered the funeral.<\/p>\n
I remembered David crying.<\/p>\n
I remembered Victoria standing at the front of the church acting like a devastated widow.<\/p>\n
Now every memory felt contaminated.<\/p>\n
Jessica carefully opened another document.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is where it gets worse.\u201d<\/p>\n
I almost laughed.<\/p>\n
Because that sentence had become the theme of my life.<\/p>\n
She handed David a page.<\/p>\n
His eyes scanned it.<\/p>\n
Then widened.<\/p>\n
Then widened further.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
I asked.<\/p>\n
David couldn\u2019t speak.<\/p>\n
So Jessica answered.<\/p>\n
\u201cMarcus attended your father\u2019s funeral.\u201d<\/p>\n
I frowned.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo?\u201d<\/p>\n
David looked at me.<\/p>\n
Then showed me the photograph.<\/p>\n
My breath caught.<\/p>\n
There he was.<\/p>\n
Marcus.<\/p>\n
Standing near the back.<\/p>\n
Not with coworkers.<\/p>\n
Not with friends.<\/p>\n
With Victoria.<\/p>\n
Watching.<\/p>\n
Together.<\/p>\n
Hidden in plain sight.<\/p>\n
The date stamp confirmed everything.<\/p>\n
Eight years earlier.<\/p>\n
Long before David introduced Marcus as some random coworker.<\/p>\n
Long before any of us knew his name.<\/p>\n
The realization hit me like ice water.<\/p>\n
Marcus had already been inside David\u2019s life.<\/p>\n
For years.<\/p>\n
Maybe decades.<\/p>\n
David\u2019s hands trembled.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe knew.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jessica nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think so.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI think he always knew.\u201d<\/p>\n
The room fell silent.<\/p>\n
David looked physically ill.<\/p>\n
Then his phone rang.<\/p>\n
Everyone jumped.<\/p>\n
The screen lit up.<\/p>\n
One name.<\/p>\n
Mom.<\/p>\n
Victoria.<\/p>\n
Nobody said anything.<\/p>\n
The timing was impossible.<\/p>\n
Almost supernatural.<\/p>\n
David stared at the screen.<\/p>\n
It continued ringing.<\/p>\n
And ringing.<\/p>\n
And ringing.<\/p>\n
Finally he answered.<\/p>\n
Neither speaker nor video.<\/p>\n
Just audio.<\/p>\n
\u201cHello.\u201d<\/p>\n
Victoria sounded irritated.<\/p>\n
Not worried.<\/p>\n
Not loving.<\/p>\n
Irritated.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere are you?\u201d<\/p>\n
David\u2019s voice was strangely calm.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause I\u2019ve been trying to reach you.\u201d<\/p>\n
Silence.<\/p>\n
Then David asked:<\/p>\n
\u201cIs Marcus my father?\u201d<\/p>\n
The world stopped.<\/p>\n
Complete silence.<\/p>\n
Nobody breathed.<\/p>\n
Nobody moved.<\/p>\n
The line remained open.<\/p>\n
And on the other end\u2026<\/p>\n
Victoria said nothing.<\/p>\n
Not immediately.<\/p>\n
Not for five seconds.<\/p>\n
Not for ten.<\/p>\n
Not for fifteen.<\/p>\n
Nothing.<\/p>\n
Just silence.<\/p>\n
The worst kind of answer.<\/p>\n
Finally her voice returned.<\/p>\n
Small.<\/p>\n
Weak.<\/p>\n
Unlike anything we\u2019d ever heard before.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho told you that?\u201d<\/p>\n
David closed his eyes.<\/p>\n
The room exploded.<\/p>\n
Because innocent people don\u2019t ask who told you.<\/p>\n
They say no.<\/p>\n
Immediately.<\/p>\n
Instinctively.<\/p>\n
Desperately.<\/p>\n
Victoria hadn\u2019t.<\/p>\n
And everyone knew it.<\/p>\n
David\u2019s voice cracked.<\/p>\n
\u201cIs it true?\u201d<\/p>\n
Another silence.<\/p>\n
Longer this time.<\/p>\n
Then came the sound.<\/p>\n
Not words.<\/p>\n
Crying.<\/p>\n
Victoria was crying.<\/p>\n
The first genuine tears I had ever heard from her.<\/p>\n
And somehow that made everything worse.<\/p>\n
Much worse.<\/p>\n
Because manipulative people cry all the time.<\/p>\n
But these sounded different.<\/p>\n
Broken.<\/p>\n
Cornered.<\/p>\n
Exposed.<\/p>\n
Finally she whispered:<\/p>\n
\u201cI never wanted you to find out.\u201d<\/p>\n
David nearly collapsed.<\/p>\n
He sat heavily in the chair.<\/p>\n
His face completely empty.<\/p>\n
As if every emotion had overloaded simultaneously.<\/p>\n
I watched the realization spread across him.<\/p>\n
His childhood.<\/p>\n
His father.<\/p>\n
His memories.<\/p>\n
His identity.<\/p>\n
Every piece being rewritten in real time.<\/p>\n
He whispered:<\/p>\n
\u201cTell me I\u2019m wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n
Victoria sobbed.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m sorry.\u201d<\/p>\n
That was it.<\/p>\n
Not denial.<\/p>\n
Not explanation.<\/p>\n
Not defense.<\/p>\n
An apology.<\/p>\n
And apologies only come after truth.<\/p>\n
David ended the call.<\/p>\n
Immediately.<\/p>\n
No goodbye.<\/p>\n
No screaming.<\/p>\n
Nothing.<\/p>\n
Just ended it.<\/p>\n
Then sat motionless.<\/p>\n
Nobody spoke for nearly a minute.<\/p>\n
Finally Jessica quietly said:<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is one more thing.\u201d<\/p>\n
I wanted to scream.<\/p>\n
There was always one more thing.<\/p>\n
Always.<\/p>\n
David didn\u2019t even look up.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat.\u201d<\/p>\n
Not a question.<\/p>\n
A surrender.<\/p>\n
Jessica opened the final section of the binder.<\/p>\n
The last section.<\/p>\n
The thickest section.<\/p>\n
And suddenly I understood why she\u2019d waited until now.<\/p>\n
Because this wasn\u2019t about the affair.<\/p>\n
This wasn\u2019t about paternity.<\/p>\n
This wasn\u2019t even about Victoria.<\/p>\n
This was about money.<\/p>\n
Lots of money.<\/p>\n
Jessica slid the records across the desk.<\/p>\n
Marcus.<\/p>\n
Victoria.<\/p>\n
Bank transfers.<\/p>\n
Investment accounts.<\/p>\n
Property purchases.<\/p>\n
Hidden assets.<\/p>\n
Years worth of them.<\/p>\n
David frowned.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t understand.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jessica looked directly at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cYour father left you an inheritance.\u201d<\/p>\n
His eyes widened.<\/p>\n
\u201cI got my inheritance.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jessica slowly shook her head.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo, David.\u201d<\/p>\n
My stomach dropped.<\/p>\n
Because I knew that tone.<\/p>\n
That tone only appeared when life was about to get worse.<\/p>\n
Jessica pointed at the records.<\/p>\n
\u201cYour father left you much more than you received.\u201d<\/p>\n
The room went completely silent.<\/p>\n
David stared.<\/p>\n
Then looked at the numbers.<\/p>\n
Then looked again.<\/p>\n
And again.<\/p>\n
His face drained of color.<\/p>\n
Because the amount was enormous.<\/p>\n
Not thousands.<\/p>\n
Not tens of thousands.<\/p>\n
Hundreds of thousands.<\/p>\n
Money that had vanished.<\/p>\n
Money that should have belonged to him.<\/p>\n
Money that apparently never reached him.<\/p>\n
Jessica whispered:<\/p>\n
\u201cI think someone stole it.\u201d<\/p>\n
David looked up slowly.<\/p>\n
His voice barely existed.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho?\u201d<\/p>\n
Jessica answered with a single word.<\/p>\n
\u201cVictoria.\u201d<\/p>\n
The office became silent.<\/p>\n
But for the first time all night\u2026<\/p>\n
That wasn\u2019t the revelation that terrified me most.<\/p>\n
Because sitting on top of the financial records was a recent document.<\/p>\n
Very recent.<\/p>\n
Only three weeks old.<\/p>\n
A property purchase agreement.<\/p>\n
Signed.<\/p>\n
Approved.<\/p>\n
Completed.<\/p>\n
The buyer\u2019s name made my blood run cold.<\/p>\n
Marcus Hayes.<\/p>\n
The property address?<\/p>\n
I recognized it instantly.<\/p>\n
Because it was less than three hundred yards from my house.<\/p>\n
Marcus hadn\u2019t just been watching us.<\/p>\n
He had moved into the neighborhood\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026.<\/p>\n
PART 5 The clock on my dashboard read 11:37 PM. Neither David nor I had spoken much during the drive downtown. The city lights reflected across the windshield. Austin looked … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1542","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-insightdrama"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1542","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1542"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1542\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1546,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1542\/revisions\/1546"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1542"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1542"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1542"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}