Chapter 5: The Voice Drea Could Not Silence
Drea moved first.
“Give me that watch.”
Calla covered it with both hands.
“No.”
“You recorded a private conversation.”
“I was hiding behind the stairs.”
Officer Patel stepped between them.
“Drea, move back.”
Calla tapped the screen.
A faint recording filled the silent yard.
Drea’s voice came through first.
“Once Mara signs the surrender paper, Ethan won’t be able to stop the transfer.”
A man answered, “And if she refuses?”
“She can stay in the pool house until she changes her mind.”
Ethan stared at Drea.
“You planned this.”
“That recording is incomplete.”
Calla pressed another button.
The man’s voice returned.
“What about the girl?”
Drea laughed.
“Calla believes whatever her father tells her, and Ethan believes whatever I tell him.”
Ethan’s jaw tightened.
“Who is the man?”
“I don’t know.
Someone edited my voice.”
Officer Patel took the watch.
“The original file can be examined.”
Drea pointed at Mara.
“She arranged this.
She trained Calla to repeat lies.”
“I didn’t know Calla had a watch,” Mara said.
The side gate opened again.
A tall man entered, breathing hard.
“Drea called me,” he said.
“She said someone was trying to take her house.”
Drea hurried toward him.
“Nolan, tell them DNR Holdings is legitimate.”
Nolan stopped beside Officer Patel.
“It was legitimate until my sister used it without my permission.”
Drea froze.
“You said you would support me.”
“You put the company in my name and asked me to sign blank tax forms.” Nolan held up his phone.
“Then the bank called about a property transfer.”
“You’re my brother.”
“That doesn’t make me your accomplice.”
He handed the phone to Ethan.
An email from Drea contained the forged deed, loan documents, and instructions to move the money immediately after closing.
Drea’s voice softened.
“Ethan, come inside with me.”
“No.”
“We can fix this.
Tell the officer Mara broke in.
I’ll cancel the transfer, and we can keep our family together.”
“You mean keep your plan hidden.”
“I gave you a home.
I raised your daughter.”
“You intercepted letters from her mother.”
“I did what you were too weak to do.”
Calla covered her ears.
Mara drew her close.
Ethan removed his wedding ring.
“Whatever happens to the house, you and I are finished.”
Drea stared at the ring in his palm.
“You won’t last a week without me.”
She suddenly grabbed Nolan’s phone and threw it onto the stone path.
The screen shattered.
Nolan did not move.
“The emails are stored online,” he said.
Officer Patel reached for Drea’s arm, but a ringtone interrupted him.
Ethan answered his own phone and put it on speaker.
A banker’s voice filled the yard.
“Mr.
Hale, we have completed the transfer you authorized.
Two hundred and forty thousand dollars has left the property account.”
“I authorized nothing,” Ethan said.
May you like
Across the yard, Drea began to smile.
Then the banker added, “The receiving account has already been emptied.”
