{"id":29530,"date":"2026-10-03T20:43:25","date_gmt":"2026-10-03T20:43:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/?p=29530"},"modified":"2026-10-03T20:43:25","modified_gmt":"2026-10-03T20:43:25","slug":"part-8-mark-finally-told-me-what-diane-had-done-to-his-sister-and-why-our-wedding-had-become-her-last-chance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/?p=29530","title":{"rendered":"PART 8 \u2013 Mark Finally Told Me What Diane Had Done to His Sister, and Why Our Wedding Had Become Her Last Chance"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>We met Mark at a law office that did not belong to anyone connected with either family.<\/p>\n<p>My father arranged it through a friend.<\/p>\n<p>The police knew where we were.<\/p>\n<p>Two attorneys sat in the next room.<\/p>\n<p>My parents remained downstairs.<\/p>\n<p>Those were my conditions.<\/p>\n<p>Mark agreed to all of them.<\/p>\n<p>He arrived eleven minutes early.<\/p>\n<p>I watched him through the conference-room window as he stepped out of the elevator.<\/p>\n<p>He was still wearing yesterday\u2019s suit.<\/p>\n<p>No tie.<\/p>\n<p>Same shoes.<\/p>\n<p>Same face I had looked at during our vows.<\/p>\n<p>But he seemed smaller somehow.<\/p>\n<p>Not physically.<\/p>\n<p>Like the structure around him had collapsed and revealed the person inside.<\/p>\n<p>He stopped when he saw me.<\/p>\n<p>For several seconds, neither of us spoke.<\/p>\n<p>Then he looked at my left hand.<\/p>\n<p>No ring.<\/p>\n<p>His face tightened.<\/p>\n<p>He sat across from me.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou\u2019re safe.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>It wasn\u2019t a question.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He nodded.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGood.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I placed my phone on the table and turned on the voice recorder.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m recording this.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAll right.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnything you say may go to the police.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnything you hide now is finished between us.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>His eyes moved to mine.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI understand.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo, Mark. You need to understand exactly what I mean.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He waited.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou lied to me before we married. You knew my name had been forged. You knew your mother wanted access to my property. You knew Richard Vale viewed our marriage as collateral.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>His jaw tightened.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd you married me anyway.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The answer hurt more because he did not fight it.<\/p>\n<p>I folded my hands together.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat was in the envelope?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He leaned back.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe original trust authorization.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEmma\u2019s?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat does it show?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat my mother transferred money out of Emma\u2019s trust illegally.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow much?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cJust over four million.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I stared at him.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFour million dollars?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOver several years.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd Emma didn\u2019t know?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy would Diane need Emma\u2019s authorization?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy father created the trust so neither my mother nor I could touch the principal without Emma\u2019s consent after she turned twenty-one.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd someone forged that consent.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He nodded.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy mother.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDo you know that?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI watched her do it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The room went silent.<\/p>\n<p>I stared at him.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThree years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Before we were engaged.<\/p>\n<p>Shortly after Mark and I started dating.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou watched your mother forge your sister\u2019s name on a four-million-dollar transfer.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd you did nothing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI confronted her.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat isn\u2019t doing something.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy didn\u2019t you go to the police?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>His face changed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause I was a coward.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I hadn\u2019t expected that answer.<\/p>\n<p>No excuse.<\/p>\n<p>No family loyalty speech.<\/p>\n<p>No complicated justification.<\/p>\n<p>Just coward.<\/p>\n<p>He rubbed both hands over his face.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe told me the company would collapse. Hundreds of employees would lose their jobs. Emma would lose the remaining trust because creditors would tear through everything.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCould creditors reach her trust?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou knew that?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNot then.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo Diane lied.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd you believed her.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI wanted to.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I understood that more than I wanted to.<\/p>\n<p>He continued.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe said she would put the money back within six months.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid she?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe borrowed more.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd then Vale.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I looked at him.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy hide Emma from me?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mark\u2019s eyes dropped.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy mother insisted.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat isn\u2019t an answer.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He took a breath.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEmma cut contact with us two years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause she discovered money was missing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDoes she know you knew?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat did you tell her?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe truth.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat you watched Diane forge her signature?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe told me never to contact her again.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I sat back.<\/p>\n<p>That explained why Mark never mentioned a sister.<\/p>\n<p>It did not excuse it.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat happened after she left?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy mother became obsessed with replacing the money before Emma could prove what happened.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause if Emma went to the authorities, Mom could go to prison.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCould you?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>His silence answered.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI signed two transfer confirmations.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cKnowing the original authorization was forged?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNot the first one.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe second?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He nodded.<\/p>\n<p>There it was.<\/p>\n<p>The confession.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou participated.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy mother told me Emma had approved everything privately and didn\u2019t want direct contact.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou believed that after seeing Diane forge her signature?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThen why sign?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He looked at me.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI was trying to keep the company alive.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The sentence landed between us.<\/p>\n<p>So ordinary.<\/p>\n<p>So dangerous.<\/p>\n<p>I had heard versions of it from people my entire life.<\/p>\n<p>For the business.<\/p>\n<p>For the family.<\/p>\n<p>For the employees.<\/p>\n<p>For everyone who supposedly depended on one more compromise.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd that\u2019s what Vale had on you.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYour signature.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf you exposed Diane, you exposed yourself.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I stood and walked toward the window.<\/p>\n<p>Traffic moved below.<\/p>\n<p>For a moment, I could see my reflection in the glass.<\/p>\n<p>No wedding dress.<\/p>\n<p>No veil.<\/p>\n<p>No ring.<\/p>\n<p>Just me.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen did you learn Vale knew?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLast year.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat did he want?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPayment.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd when your family couldn\u2019t pay?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe wanted collateral.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy condo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEventually.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I turned.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat was first?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOur Westchester house. Company property. Two investment accounts.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd then?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy mother told him I was marrying you.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I closed my eyes.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid you tell her not to?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid you consider ending the engagement?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>His voice became quiet.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEvery day.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I looked at him.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy didn\u2019t you?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause I loved you.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat wasn\u2019t enough.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo. Listen to me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He did.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLove without truth became part of the trap.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He swallowed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou let me make a life-changing decision while withholding information that directly affected me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou don\u2019t get to call that protection.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m not.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That stopped me.<\/p>\n<p>I had expected resistance.<\/p>\n<p>Excuses.<\/p>\n<p>Maybe anger.<\/p>\n<p>Instead, he seemed to have passed beyond defending himself.<\/p>\n<p>I returned to the table.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTell me about August 14.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He nodded.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI found a draft of the property agreement with your signature.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhere?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn my mother\u2019s desk.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd you confronted her.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe told me Vale had required documentation showing future collateral.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy condo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid she admit forging me?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe said it was only a sample.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA sample with my signature?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid you believe her?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat\u2019s when you went to Vale.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd recorded him.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat happened to your hand?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe man who was there\u2014his name is Nathan Crowe\u2014grabbed me when I tried to leave with the document.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe original?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo. A copy.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWho is Crowe?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cVale\u2019s security guy. Fixer. Whatever you want to call him.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe man in yesterday\u2019s photograph.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd you gave him an envelope.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mark looked toward the recorder.<\/p>\n<p>Then back at me.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause I stole the original Emma authorization from my mother\u2019s safe.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I leaned forward.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou gave Vale evidence against Diane?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThen why hand it to Crowe?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe envelope he received was empty.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I stared at him.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAlmost empty.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat was inside?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA flash drive.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat was on it?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCopies of the recordings.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause I told Vale I had duplicated everything and arranged for the evidence to go to federal investigators if anything happened to you, Emma, or me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>My pulse increased.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou threatened him.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYesterday morning.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFour hours before marrying me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd then you walked into the ceremony without telling me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>His eyes filled, but he did not look away.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I hated how much I appreciated his honesty now.<\/p>\n<p>Too late.<\/p>\n<p>But real.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhere is the original trust authorization?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mark hesitated.<\/p>\n<p>I immediately felt the old anger return.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou said no more hiding.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m not hiding it. I\u2019m trying to explain why the answer matters.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cJust answer.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI gave it to someone.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWho?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCaroline.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>My mother\u2019s source.<\/p>\n<p>I sat back.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou knew Caroline was talking to my mother?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEventually.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAbout three weeks ago.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid you tell her to?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut you knew.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy didn\u2019t you stop her?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mark gave a sad laugh.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause by then I wanted someone to stop us.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Us.<\/p>\n<p>He included himself.<\/p>\n<p>That mattered.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhere is Caroline now?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen did you last speak?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYesterday.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat time?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAround eight in the morning.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBefore Crowe?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat did she say?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat Vale had found out there was another asset.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Greenwich house.<\/p>\n<p>I stared at him.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe didn\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid she send the anonymous texts?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t think so.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause Caroline doesn\u2019t know your number.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy number isn\u2019t difficult to find.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo. But she\u2019s careful. She would have contacted your mother.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cUnless she couldn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mark\u2019s expression changed.<\/p>\n<p>He took out his phone.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCall her.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI have.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAgain.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He did.<\/p>\n<p>Speakerphone.<\/p>\n<p>The line rang.<\/p>\n<p>Then went to voicemail.<\/p>\n<p>He called a second number.<\/p>\n<p>Same result.<\/p>\n<p>I looked at him.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen exactly did she tell you about the second property?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEight twelve yesterday morning.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd what did you do?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI called my mother.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTo ask if she knew.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat did she say?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe said no.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid you believe her?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThen?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI met Crowe. Gave him the flash drive. Told him Vale needed to stop.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd then?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI went to the wedding.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou could have called me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou could have told me not to come.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou could have canceled.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Every yes felt like a stone placed carefully between us.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy didn\u2019t you?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He stared at the table.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause I believed the threat would work.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou gambled with my life.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>His eyes lifted.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That was the first answer that made me look away.<\/p>\n<p>Because there was nothing else to call it.<\/p>\n<p>He had loved me.<\/p>\n<p>He had tried, in his own damaged way, to protect me.<\/p>\n<p>And he had still gambled with my life.<\/p>\n<p>A knock came at the conference-room door.<\/p>\n<p>One of the attorneys entered.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSophie, your father needs you downstairs.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat happened?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The attorney looked at Mark, then at me.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe police found Caroline\u2019s car.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>My chair scraped backward.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhere?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNear the Connecticut state line.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWas she in it?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>We went downstairs together.<\/p>\n<p>My father stood near the reception desk with his phone in his hand.<\/p>\n<p>My mother looked terrified.<\/p>\n<p>The detective\u2019s voice came through speakerphone.<\/p>\n<p>Caroline\u2019s car had been abandoned with the driver\u2019s door unlocked.<\/p>\n<p>Her handbag was inside.<\/p>\n<p>So was her phone.<\/p>\n<p>No blood.<\/p>\n<p>No obvious sign of violence.<\/p>\n<p>But her laptop was missing.<\/p>\n<p>Mark leaned against the wall.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen was the car found?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAbout forty minutes ago.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhere exactly?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The detective gave the location.<\/p>\n<p>Mark\u2019s face changed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He looked at me.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat\u2019s five miles from one of Vale\u2019s warehouses.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>My father\u2019s expression hardened.<\/p>\n<p>The detective asked Mark for the address.<\/p>\n<p>He gave it.<\/p>\n<p>Then my mother\u2019s phone rang.<\/p>\n<p>Unknown number.<\/p>\n<p>Everyone froze.<\/p>\n<p>She answered on speaker.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHello?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>For three seconds, nobody spoke.<\/p>\n<p>Then a woman whispered.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cElizabeth?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>My mother gripped the phone.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCaroline?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A sob.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhere are you?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI can\u2019t tell you.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAre you hurt?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mark stepped closer.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCaroline, it\u2019s Mark.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Silence.<\/p>\n<p>Then her breathing changed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou shouldn\u2019t be there.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhere are you?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou don\u2019t understand.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTell us.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI found out who told Vale about the Greenwich house.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Every person in the room went still.<\/p>\n<p>My mother said, \u201cWho?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Caroline began crying.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI was wrong about Diane.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mark stared at the phone.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat does that mean?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe didn\u2019t find the house.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThen who did?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Caroline took a breath.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRichard Vale had someone inside Sophie\u2019s family.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>My father went completely still.<\/p>\n<p>My mother whispered, \u201cWho?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The line crackled.<\/p>\n<p>Then Caroline said a name.<\/p>\n<p>A name that made my father sit down.<\/p>\n<p>My mother covered her mouth.<\/p>\n<p>And for the first time since the wedding, Mark looked as shocked as I felt.<\/p>\n<p>Because the person feeding Richard Vale information was not someone from his family.<\/p>\n<p>It was my father\u2019s younger brother.<\/p>\n<p>My Uncle David.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<h2><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/?p=29531\">Click here to continue reading: PART 9: My Uncle David Denied Betraying Us Until One Photograph Proved He Had Been Meeting Richard Vale for More Than a Year<\/a><\/strong><\/h2>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>We met Mark at a law office that did not belong to anyone connected with either family. My father arranged it through a friend. The police knew where we were. &hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":29522,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-29530","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-insightdrama"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29530","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=29530"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29530\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29565,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29530\/revisions\/29565"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/29522"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=29530"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=29530"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=29530"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}