Chapter 3 - MY SISTER’S SECRET
Marissa was sitting in a police cruiser outside when an officer brought her inside.
She had been crying.
But when she saw the documents spread across the table, her expression changed.
“What happened?”
I looked at her.
“You tell me.”
She glanced at our mother.
Then at Colin.
Her husband was standing near the hallway with his hands cuffed behind his back.
Marissa's face collapsed.
“Colin?”
He wouldn't look at her.
I picked up the forged loan agreement.
“Did you know about this?”
She shook her head.
“I swear.”
“Then tell me why your husband was carrying the original deed to my house.”
“I don't know.”
“You moved into my home today.”
“I thought Mom arranged it.”
“She did.”
Marissa looked toward Teresa.
“Mom?”
Teresa remained silent.
I watched my sister's face.
For the first time in years, she looked genuinely confused.
Then she started crying.
“Connor, I didn't know.”
I wanted to believe her.
But trust was no longer something I could hand out because someone was crying.
Helen placed another document on the table.
“Marissa, we found your name on several communications.”
Marissa froze.
“What communications?”
Emails.
Text messages.
Bank transfers.
But then something unexpected happened.
Marissa looked at the screen and shook her head.
“That isn't me.”
Helen frowned.
“What?”
“My email was hacked last year.”
I looked at her.
“Why didn't you tell anyone?”
“Because I thought it was spam. Then strange purchases started appearing on my credit card.”
She looked at Colin.
“I thought he was helping me.”
Colin finally spoke.
“Marissa, don't.”
She turned toward him.
“You knew.”
He remained silent.
“You knew Mom was taking Connor's money?”
Nothing.
“You knew about the house?”
Still nothing.
Marissa's voice cracked.
“Colin?”
He finally looked at her.
“You wouldn't understand.”
She stepped backward.
“Understand what?”
Colin's silence answered.
Marissa removed her wedding ring.
Then she dropped it onto the floor.
“You used me.”
Colin looked away.
I had never seen my sister look so broken.
Then Helen opened another file.
“This is where things become more serious.”
The file contained photographs.
Teresa meeting Colin.
Teresa meeting a real-estate broker.
Teresa meeting someone else.
A man whose face I recognized immediately.
My uncle Richard.
My father's older brother.
I stared at the photograph.
“That's impossible.”
Betsy whispered.
“No.”
“What?”
“He was supposed to be dead.”
The room went silent.
My uncle Richard had disappeared after my father's death.
We had been told he moved overseas.
Helen shook her head.
“He never left the country.”
She placed another photograph on the table.
Richard was standing beside Teresa.
Both were smiling.
The date was from six months earlier.
Then another photograph appeared.
Richard was entering a private bank.
Behind him was a safe-deposit box.
Helen looked at me.
“We believe your mother's scheme began shortly after your father's death.”
I looked at Teresa.
“You didn't just steal my money.”
She said nothing.
“You were working with my uncle.”
Her face finally broke.
May you like
And she whispered:
“Your father knew.”
