Chapter 3
I called the police from Emily's hospital room.
This time, I wasn't reporting an assault.
I was reporting a threat.
Detective Marcus Bell arrived forty minutes later.
He was calm, quiet, and impossible to read.
He photographed the message.
Then he studied the bank statements.
"Where did your wife get these?"
Emily answered.
"Ryan's father dropped a folder in the hallway two nights ago. These were inside."
Bell looked at me.
"Your father know she took them?"
"We didn't know until today."
Emily shook her head.
"He knew."
I turned toward her.
"How?"
"Because yesterday he asked whether I'd found any papers that didn't belong to me."
My hands curled into fists.
Bell noticed.
"Mr. Carter, don't confront your family."
"They attacked my wife."
"And one of them is already in custody. Let us handle the others."
My phone buzzed again.
This time it was Chloe.
I stared at the screen.
"How is she calling me?"
Bell leaned closer.
It wasn't a call.
It was a scheduled email.
Ryan,
You always believed Emily was innocent.
Ask her about Daniel Mercer.
Ask her why she met him twice without telling you.
Then decide who betrayed you.
Chloe
I read it twice.
Emily's expression changed.
Not guilt.
Fear.
"Who is Daniel Mercer?" I asked.
Bell looked at her too.
Emily closed her eyes.
"An attorney."
"For what?"
"Your grandmother's estate."
I felt the room shift beneath me.
"My grandmother died three years ago."
"I know."
"Why were you meeting her attorney?"
"Because he contacted me."
"Why?"
Emily reached for my hand.
I didn't pull away, but I didn't squeeze back.
"He said your grandmother left instructions that were never carried out."
Bell's attention sharpened.
"What instructions?"
Emily swallowed.
"Something about Ryan."
I stared at her.
"Me?"
"She wanted you to receive part of her estate."
I almost laughed.
"She left everything to my father."
"No."
Emily's answer was immediate.
"That's what your father told everyone."
Bell sat forward.
"What did the attorney say?"
Emily looked at him.
"He believed the will used in probate wasn't the final will."
Silence.
I remembered my grandmother's funeral.
Dad crying beside the coffin.
Mom telling everyone how devastated he was.
Then, six months later, my parents bought a larger house.
Chloe suddenly had a new car.
I had never questioned it.
"Why contact Emily instead of me?" I asked.
"Daniel tried contacting you."
"No, he didn't."
"He said letters were returned. Emails disappeared. Then he found out your father was living here."
I understood.
My father had access to our mail for months.
He sometimes collected it when we worked late.
Bell asked, "What exactly does your wife have?"
Emily looked toward her purse.
"The statements aren't the important part."
My heart started pounding.
She reached inside and removed a small flash drive.
"Daniel gave me this."
I stared at it.
"What's on it?"
"A scanned copy of your grandmother's final will."
Bell held out his hand.
Emily didn't give it to him immediately.
"There's something else."
"What?" I asked.
"A video."
My mouth went dry.
"Of Grandma?"
Emily nodded.
"She recorded it three weeks before she died."
We found a laptop.
Bell asked Emily to play the file.
My grandmother appeared on the screen.
Older.
Weak.
But completely alert.
She looked directly into the camera.
"If you're watching this, then my son Thomas has done exactly what I feared."
I stopped breathing.
Emily gripped my hand.
Grandma continued.
"Ryan, I am sorry."
My chest tightened.
"I discovered your father had been taking money from my accounts. I changed my will because I wanted to protect what remained."
Bell glanced at me.
The video continued.
"My home, investments, and controlling interest in Carter Development are to pass to my grandson Ryan Carter."
I stared at the screen.
Carter Development was worth millions.
My father had claimed ownership since Grandma died.
Grandma leaned closer to the camera.
"And Ryan, there is something else your father has hidden from you since you were a child."
The video suddenly stopped.
"What happened?" I asked.
Emily clicked the file again.
Nothing.
A message appeared.
FILE CORRUPTED.
Bell frowned.
"Do you have another copy?"
Emily shook her head.
Then my phone rang.
Dad.
This time Bell told me to answer.
I put it on speaker.
My father's voice came through.
"Bring me that drive, Ryan."
I stared at Bell.
May you like
Dad continued.
"If you watch the rest of that video, you'll wish you hadn't."
