Chapter 8 - THE WOMAN WHO RECORDED EVERYTHING
Karen had hated Bianca for months.
Now she had to find her.
Toby was still in surgery when Karen called Elias.
He sent an attorney and investigator to Ridgemont.
Police were already searching for Naen.
Karen refused to leave the hospital.
Then Bianca called her.
“I need you to listen before you hang up.”
Karen said nothing.
“I didn’t make those videos because I hated you.”
“You mocked me.”
“I needed Pike to believe I was on his side.”
Karen almost ended the call.
Then Bianca sent her a folder containing hundreds of recordings.
Faculty meetings.
Private conversations.
Pike discussing altered scholarship records.
Pike admitting he knew Teresa’s identity.
Pike instructing staff to destroy documents.
Bianca had recorded everything.
“Why?”
Her answer shocked Karen.
Micah Trent was her nephew.
Bianca’s older sister was Micah’s mother.
They had different surnames, and almost nobody at Ridgemont knew they were related.
Bianca had accepted the job partly to watch over him.
When Pike threatened Mrs. Trent, Bianca decided she needed evidence strong enough to destroy him permanently.
“But why humiliate me?”
“To make him trust me.”
Karen’s jaw tightened.
“You could have told me.”
“No. You’re terrible at pretending.”
Despite everything, Karen nearly smiled.
Then Bianca’s voice changed.
“Naen is alive.”
Karen stood.
“Where?”
“I followed Emilio.”
Naen was being held inside an unused Ridgemont maintenance building while Emilio searched for the flash drive.
Bianca had already called police.
Within minutes officers surrounded the building.
Naen was found frightened but unharmed.
Emilio was gone.
He had escaped through an underground service corridor.
At the hospital, the surgical doors finally opened.
Dr. Shaw removed his mask.
“The procedure went well.”
Karen’s knees almost gave out.
Toby was alive.
Stable.
Safe.
For the first time in weeks, Karen let herself cry.
Then Elias’s phone rang.
His attorney had bad news.
Emilio had emptied three overseas accounts before the freeze.
Nearly fourteen million dollars had vanished.
But money was not what worried Elias.
A file attached to the transfer contained plans for something scheduled the next morning.
Ridgemont’s board was holding an emergency vote.
They intended to blame the entire financial scandal on one employee.
A terminated contract teacher.
May you like
Karen Marsh.
And buried inside the board packet was a forged confession carrying Karen’s signature.
