CHAPTER 7: THE OTHER WOMAN
Melissa called me at 6 p.m.
"Sarah," she said, her voice smooth as silk. "We need to talk."
"No, we don't."
"I know about the trust. I know about the accounts. But you're making a huge mistake. That money belongs to my family. To Daniel. To the children."
"The money belongs to Robert and me. We earned it. Your husband stole it."
"I've been calling the shots for five years, Sarah. Daniel doesn't have the spine for it. Ashley doesn't have the stomach. I'm the one who planned everything."
"Your planning failed."
"Not yet. I'm better at this than you think. I have my own accounts, my own lawyers, my own contingency plans. You can't touch me."
I laughed, and it surprised me. "Oh, Melissa. You really have no idea, do you?"
"I know everything. I've been controlling this family since before you realized there was a problem."
"Then you know Mary Caldwell is my attorney. And you know what she found in the offshore accounts."
There was a pause.
"There's nothing in the offshore accounts. I checked."
"I had them moved. Three days ago. Every penny. You can't access anything."
"I'm going to destroy you," Melissa said. "You understand that, right? I'm going to make your life a living hell."
"Melissa, the only hell I've ever known is the one you and my children created. And now I'm free of it."
"You think you're free? I've got more lawyers than you've got cups of coffee. I'll tie you up in court for years. Decades. By the time it's over, you'll be dead of old age."
"So you've been planning to kill me too?"
"I've been planning to bury you."
I pulled out the file Mary had given me and opened it to a specific page.
"I have a document here," I said. "It's a letter from Robert, written a week before he died. He tells me everything—about the shell companies, about the stolen money, about the conversations you had with him when you thought no one was listening."
"Robert hated me. Of course he'd say that."
"Robert was dying, Melissa. He had no reason to lie. And he had everything to gain by telling me the truth."
"Which is?"
"That you're the one who's been stealing from the company. Not Daniel. Not Ashley. You."
The silence that followed was one of the most satisfying things I'd ever heard.
"I don't know what you're talking about," Melissa finally said.
"Of course you don't. That's what makes it so easy to prove. The money trail leads directly back to you, Melissa. Not your husband. Not the shell company. You."
"I was protecting my family."
"You were lining your own pockets. You've been doing it since before you married Daniel. This was always about you."
"I'll deny everything."
"You can try. But I have bank records, emails, and a tape recording of Robert confronting you about it a month before he died."
Melissa's voice went cold. "How did you get that?"
"Robert left it for me. He knew you'd eventually come after the money. He wanted me to be prepared."
"You're bluffing."
"I'm not. The tape is with my lawyer. If you come after me, I'll release it to the police. And to the press."
"You can't do that."
"Watch me."
I hung up and stared at the phone.
For the first time, I felt like I had the upper hand.
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Melissa had been controlling everyone for years. She was smarter, more strategic, more ruthless than Daniel or Ashley. But she'd made one mistake: she'd underestimated me.
Now she was going to learn.
