CHAPTER 7: THE RISK
Breaking into the mansion was not something I had ever imagined doing.
But here I was, standing outside the back gate at midnight, wearing dark clothes and carrying a small flashlight.
The security system was the same one my father had installed ten years ago. I knew the code. I knew the blind spots. I knew exactly how to get in.
I slipped through the gate and crept along the side of the house. The windows were dark. Everyone was asleep.
I found the study door. It was unlocked.
Inside, the room was exactly as I remembered it. My grandfather's old desk. His leather chair. The painting of the lake house above the fireplace.
I moved the painting aside. Behind it, there was a small wall safe.
I entered the combination—my birthday, just as Grandfather had said.
The safe clicked open.
Inside, there was a thick stack of documents. Bank statements. Property deeds. And a letter.
I pulled them out and started reading.
What I found made my blood run cold.
My mother had been embezzling from my grandfather's estate for years. She had been moving money into hidden accounts. She had been using the money to pay off my brother's gambling debts.
But that wasn't the worst part.
The worst part was the property deed. A house in Florida. My grandfather's house. The one he had left to me.
My mother had forged my signature to transfer the deed to herself.
I couldn't breathe.
My mother hadn't just threatened me. She had been stealing from me for years.
I took photos of everything. Then I put the documents back, closed the safe, and slipped out of the house.
I called Nora the moment I got to my apartment.
"I found something," I said. "Something big."
"Tell me."
I told her everything.
When I finished, she was silent for a long moment.
"Evelyn, your mother is looking at serious jail time. Fraud. Forgery. Embezzlement."
"Good."
"I'll start building the case. But you need to prepare yourself. This is going to get ugly."
"It's already ugly. I'm ready."
May you like
I hung up.
And I started planning my revenge.
