Chapter 6
I handed the phone to the officer.
He looked at the photograph.
“When was this sent?”
“Now.”
Michael moved closer.
“That loading entrance is behind my office.”
The officer immediately radioed another unit.
“Is your office open?”
“No.”
“Anyone inside?”
“Not that I know of.”
“Keys?”
“I have one. My manager has another.”
“Security?”
“Alarm system.”
The officer looked at Michael.
“Check the app.”
Michael took out his phone.
His face changed.
“The alarm is off.”
“Who turned it off?”
He tapped the screen.
Then went pale.
“My code.”
I stared at him.
“Did you?”
“No.”
The officer asked, “Who knows it?”
“My office manager.”
“Anyone else?”
Michael hesitated.
I already knew.
“Vanessa?”
His eyes met mine.
“Yes.”
I laughed bitterly.
Of course she did.
“How did your mistress get your alarm code?”
“She came by after hours.”
“When?”
He looked ashamed.
“More than once.”
I turned away.
Every answer still found a new way to hurt.
The officer said, “We're going to the office.”
Michael moved toward the door.
“So am I.”
“No.”
“That's my business.”
“And potentially an active crime scene.”
“But my father—”
“We'll handle it.”
Michael looked furious.
Then frightened.
Those two emotions kept replacing each other.
The officers left.
Linda sat on the couch.
Evelyn stood near the window.
I realized I had been in the same room for hours.
My body felt heavy.
I wanted to leave.
I wanted to go somewhere where no one knew David, Vanessa, Linda, trusts, fake mortgages, or secret accounts.
“I need to go.”
Michael turned.
“Where?”
“My sister's.”
“I'll drive you.”
“No.”
“Sarah.”
“No.”
He glanced toward the front door.
“We don't know who's sending you messages.”
“Exactly.”
“Then don't leave alone.”
“My sister will pick me up.”
“I'll wait with you.”
I almost told him to get away from me.
Then I looked at the unknown messages.
For once, practical fear won over anger.
“Fine.”
I called my sister, Megan.
I told her almost nothing.
“Can you come get me?”
“Of course.”
“Now?”
Her voice changed.
“Sarah, what happened?”
“I'll explain when you get here.”
“Are you safe?”
I looked around.
Michael.
Evelyn.
Linda.
A police car still outside.
“I think so.”
“I'll be there.”
I hung up.
Michael stood several feet away.
“I never wanted any of this.”
I stared at him.
“What part?”
“All of it.”
“You wanted Vanessa.”
He flinched.
“Yes.”
“For six months.”
“Yes.”
“You wanted the secret account.”
He rubbed his face.
“I thought I was doing something smart.”
“You wanted your father hidden.”
“I thought I was protecting Mom.”
Evelyn said quietly, “Stop using me.”
Michael looked at her.
She shook her head.
“You didn't tell Sarah because telling her would have forced you to admit you were still giving David money.”
He went silent.
Evelyn continued.
“You didn't protect me.”
Her voice softened.
“You protected yourself from uncomfortable conversations.”
Michael looked devastated.
She was right.
And I think he knew it.
My phone rang.
Detective Hale.
The officer from earlier had apparently passed my information to him.
“Mrs. Carter?”
“Yes.”
“We're at your husband's office.”
“Is anyone there?”
“Your husband should hear this too.”
I put him on speaker.
Michael moved closer.
“I'm here.”
Hale said, “We found evidence someone entered the building.”
“Vanessa?”
“Unknown.”
“Dad?”
“Unknown.”
“What did they take?”
“Your office was searched.”
My stomach tightened.
“For what?”
“We're trying to determine that.”
Michael asked, “Was anything missing?”
“Can you tell me whether you keep financial records in a locked cabinet near your desk?”
“Yes.”
“It's empty.”
Michael's face dropped.
“All of it?”
“Yes.”
“What records?”
I asked.
Michael looked at me.
“Investment statements.”
My heart started pounding.
“Our investment account?”
“Yes.”
“And?”
“Old tax returns.”
“Anything else?”
He hesitated.
Detective Hale noticed.
“Mr. Carter?”
Michael looked down.
“My father's files.”
Evelyn frowned.
“What files?”
“The things he sent me over the years.”
“What things?”
“Letters.”
“Debts.”
“Documents.”
“Why were those at your office?”
“Because I didn't want Sarah finding them.”
The honesty was brutal.
I laughed once.
“You finally tell the truth when it can't help you anymore.”
He didn't respond.
Hale asked, “What kind of documents?”
“Loan records.”
“Gambling debts.”
“And one trust document.”
Evelyn stood.
“What trust document?”
Michael closed his eyes.
“The original family trust.”
She stared at him.
“You had it?”
“A copy.”
“How?”
“Dad gave it to me.”
“When?”
“Three years ago.”
“Why?”
“He said I should keep it.”
“And you never told me?”
“No.”
Evelyn looked like she wanted to cry.
“Michael, that document belongs to my family.”
“I know.”
“Why would David have it?”
“I don't know.”
Detective Hale said, “Was that copy in the cabinet?”
“Yes.”
“Then it's gone.”
Silence.
Michael whispered, “Vanessa.”
Hale replied, “We do not know who took it.”
Michael looked at me.
“That's what she wanted.”
“Maybe.”
My phone buzzed.
Unknown number.
I felt sick before even opening it.
You should ask Evelyn why David needed a trust document at all.
I looked at Evelyn.
She saw my expression.
“What?”
I handed her the phone.
She read it.
Then shook her head.
“I don't know.”
Michael stared at her.
“Mom.”
“I don't.”
“Dad said you lied about the trust.”
“He says many things.”
“What if he's right?”
Evelyn's face hardened.
“He forged my signature.”
“I know.”
“But maybe there's something else.”
She looked at him.
“What are you accusing me of?”
“Nothing.”
“Then stop sounding like your father.”
Michael went quiet.
Linda, who had barely spoken for several minutes, suddenly whispered.
“There was something.”
Everyone turned toward her.
“What?” Evelyn asked.
Linda swallowed.
“David used to talk about a second beneficiary.”
My skin prickled.
Evelyn frowned.
“There wasn't one.”
“He thought there was.”
“Who?”
Linda looked at Michael.
“You.”
Michael blinked.
“I'm already the beneficiary after Mom.”
“No.”
Linda shook her head.
“He said the trust named another child.”
Silence.
Evelyn went completely still.
Michael noticed.
“Mom?”
Her face had lost all color.
“Mom.”
“That's impossible.”
But she did not sound convinced.
“What child?”
I asked.
Evelyn looked at me.
Then sat down slowly.
“My parents had another daughter.”
Michael stared at her.
“I have an aunt?”
“She died.”
“When?”
“As a baby.”
“How old?”
“Six months.”
“What was her name?”
Evelyn closed her eyes.
“Rose.”
Linda whispered, “David said Rose wasn't dead.”
Evelyn's head snapped toward her.
“What?”
“He told me your parents gave her away.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
“My sister died.”
“That's what you were told.”
Michael looked confused.
“Grandma and Grandpa gave away their own baby?”
Linda shook her head.
“I only know what David said.”
Evelyn stood.
“My mother held Rose when she died.”
“Did you see her?”
Evelyn froze.
“How old were you?”
Linda asked.
“Four.”
“Do you remember?”
“No.”
Michael looked at his mother.
“What did Grandma tell you?”
“That Rose became sick.”
“And?”
“She died in the hospital.”
“Did you ever see a death certificate?”
Evelyn stared at him.
“No.”
My stomach tightened.
“How does this connect to Vanessa?”
No one answered.
Then Linda said quietly, “Vanessa once told David her grandmother had been adopted.”
Michael's face changed.
“What?”
“Her maternal grandmother.”
Evelyn looked like she had stopped breathing.
“What was her name?”
Linda tried to remember.
“I don't know.”
“Think.”
“I think…”
She closed her eyes.
“Rosemary.”
Evelyn gripped the chair.
Michael whispered, “Rose.”
“No.”
Evelyn shook her head.
“That's coincidence.”
Maybe.
But none of us believed it.
My phone rang again.
This time it was Detective Hale.
I answered immediately.
“What happened?”
“We found someone inside the office building.”
Michael stepped closer.
“Who?”
“An adult male.”
“Dad?”
“No.”
“Who?”
Hale paused.
“Charles Morgan.”
Michael frowned.
“I don't know that name.”
I didn't either.
Linda did.
She gasped.
Everyone looked at her.
“Who is Charles Morgan?”
Her face had gone white.
“Vanessa's father.”
Michael stared at her.
“You said David raised Vanessa.”
“He didn't.”
“I know.”
“I mean…”
Linda's voice shook.
“David was afraid of Charles.”
“Why?”
“Because Charles knew what David had done years ago.”
Evelyn stepped closer.
“What did he do?”
Linda looked at her.
“He helped your father change the trust.”
Michael's mouth fell open.
“My grandfather?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Linda looked at Evelyn.
“To remove Rose.”
The room went silent.
I felt a chill move down my back.
If Rose had not died.
If she had been adopted.
If she had been removed from the family trust.
Then someone had stolen her inheritance.
Maybe Vanessa knew.
Maybe this had never been about Michael at all.
Maybe she had walked into our marriage because she believed something in this house belonged to her.
Michael whispered, “Is Vanessa related to Rose?”
Linda looked at him.
“I think Rose was her grandmother.”
Evelyn's knees seemed to weaken.
She sat down.
Michael stared at the floor.
Then at me.
Suddenly his affair was no longer only an affair.
It might have been part of something planned years before Vanessa met him.
But my heart did not feel relief.
Because regardless of Vanessa's motive, Michael had opened the door.
And invited her into our lives.
My sister's car pulled into the driveway.
I saw it through the window.
“I’m leaving.”
Michael looked at me.
“Sarah.”
“No.”
“Please.”
“I need space.”
He nodded slowly.
“When can I call?”
“I don't know.”
“Tonight?”
“No.”
“Tomorrow?”
“I don't know.”
His face crumpled.
“Are we over?”
I looked at him.
Six months of betrayal.
Years of hidden money.
A fake mortgage.
A dead father who wasn't dead.
An affair possibly built on revenge.
And somehow the hardest answer was the simplest.
“I don't know.”
Then I picked up my purse and walked out.
Megan ran toward me the second I opened the door.
“What happened?”
I hugged her.
And finally broke.
I cried so hard I couldn't speak.
She held me.
“I've got you.”
Behind me, Michael stood in the doorway.
I didn't look back.
But as Megan drove away, my phone buzzed one final time.
Unknown number.
May you like
One sentence.
Michael isn't the only person Vanessa came for.
