Chapter 5 - The Stepmotherâs LegacyThe unknown number belonged to none other than Marcus Vanceâthe lead private investigator hired by my grandfatherâs original estate lawyers, who had been quietly auditing Victoriaâs financial movements for six months.
At two o'clock in the morning, while Victoria and Chloe were arguing loudly in the master suite downstairs, I slipped up the back staircase into Victoriaâs locked home office.
Using a code Marcus had provided via text, I unlocked the heavy wall safe behind a oil painting.
Inside lay stacks of offshore bank statements, forged guardianship papers siphoning twelve million dollars from my trust fund, and a small black cassette tape labeled: PINE RIDGE FIRE â AUGUST 2014.
I slid the cassette into a portable tape player Marcus had left for me.
The voice of former Fire Chief Thomas echoed through the speaker:
âThis is Thomas. I received the fifty-thousand-dollar cash payment from Victoria Vance. I have modified the official report to list the pool house fire as an electrical short. The physical padlock has been removed from the scene and destroyed.â
My breath hitched in my chest.
I didn't just have proof of an accident. I had absolute, unshakeable evidence of attempted murder, arson, and a twelve-year criminal conspiracy.
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I downloaded the audio file to my phone, emailed copies to Marcus Vance and the State Attorney Generalâs Office, and packed my bags.
The girl who had hidden under a white bathrobe was done hiding.
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