Chapter 7: The Message From the Dead
For a few seconds, nobody moved.
Not me.
Not Sloan.
Not even Harrison, whose voice was still coming through the phone.
“Mom? What’s happening?””
I couldn’t answer.
My eyes were locked on Sloan.
Her face had changed.
The confidence was gone.
The smug little smile she wore whenever she thought she had won had disappeared.
For the first time since I met her, Sloan looked afraid.
“Show me the message,” I said.
She tightened her grip on her phone.
“No.””
That one word confirmed everything.
“You said my husband texted you.””
“I did.””
“My husband has been dead for eight years.””
She swallowed.
“I know.””
“Then show me.””
Sloan looked toward the front door.
For a moment, I thought she might run.
But then her phone buzzed again.
The sound made her jump.
I noticed.
Harrison noticed too.
“Mom,” he said through the phone, “put me on speaker.””
I pressed the button.
“Done.””
Harrison’s voice filled the room.
“Sloan, what is going on?””
She looked at the phone.
Then at me.
Then she finally turned the screen around.
The message was there.
A number I didn’t recognize.
One sentence.
*You should have stopped digging. You have no idea what Lorraine protected you from.*
My breath caught.
“That’s not your father,” Harrison said immediately.
“No,” I whispered.
But something about it bothered me.
The wording.
The timing.
The warning.
Sloan looked at me.
“You see? Someone knows.””
“Someone is trying to scare you.””
She laughed nervously.
“Why would anyone scare me?””
I looked at the forged document on the counter.
“The same reason someone created that.””
Her face tightened.
Before she could respond, Harrison spoke.
“Mom, leave.””
I looked at the phone.
“Harrison—”
“Please.””
His voice sounded different.
Not angry.
Confused.
Broken.
“I need time to understand everything.””
I closed my eyes.
After everything, I still wanted to protect him.
But I knew I couldn’t force him.
So I left.
The next morning, Harrison came to my house.
Alone.
I was sitting at the kitchen table when I heard the knock.
For a moment, I thought about pretending I wasn’t home.
But I opened the door.
He looked exhausted.
“Can I come in?””
I stepped aside.
We sat across from each other.
Two people who loved each other but suddenly felt miles apart.
“I’m sorry,” he said.
I looked at him.
“For what?””
“For believing her before asking you.””
I didn’t say anything.
Because I wasn’t ready to forgive that quickly.
He looked down.
“I found something.””
My stomach tightened.
“What?””
He placed a folder on the table.
“The documents from my father’s estate.””
I opened it.
Inside were copies of everything.
Property records.
Bank statements.
Legal paperwork.
Then I saw it.
A transfer agreement.
The same document Sloan showed me.
But this one was different.
My signature was missing.
My name was there.
But the signature line was blank.
My hands went cold.
“She changed it.””
Harrison nodded.
“I think so.””
“You think?””
He rubbed his face.
“I need proof.””
I looked at my son.
The same son who had defended Sloan yesterday.
Now he was searching for the truth.
“I found something else,” he said.
“What?””
He pulled out his phone.
A photo.
A security camera image.
Sloan entering my house.
Six months earlier.
I stared at the screen.
“She wasn’t visiting.””
“No.””
“She was looking for something.””
Harrison nodded.
Then he zoomed in.
“She wasn’t alone.””
My eyes narrowed.
Standing behind Sloan was a man.
I couldn’t see his face clearly.
But I recognized the jacket.
The watch.
The posture.
My heart started beating faster.
“Harrison…”
“What?””
“I know that man.””
His face changed.
“Who is he?””
I looked at the photo.
Then I whispered the name I hadn’t spoken in years.
“Your father’s old business partner.””
Harrison froze.
“But he disappeared after Dad died.””
I nodded.
“Yes.””
“Why would he be with Sloan?””
I looked at the picture again.
Because suddenly, the birthday cake wasn’t the beginning.
It wasn’t even the worst thing Sloan had done.
It was just the moment I finally stopped ignoring the truth.
Then Harrison’s phone rang.
He answered.
His expression changed almost immediately.
“What?””
A pause.
Then:
“Are you sure?””
He looked at me.
“Mom…”
“What?””
He slowly lowered the phone.
“The police found something.””
My heart sank.
“What?””
May you like
He whispered:
“They found your husband’s missing files.””
