Chapter 9 - The Contents of the Black File
Family. They loved that word. They loved using "blood ties" as a shield because it sounded holy and, most importantly, cost them nothing. To them, "family" was synonymous with an endless gold mine they had the right to exploit by any means necessary.
But what Frank, Patricia, and Tyler never expected was that I had stopped being a powerless victim long before Daniel proposed.
They still thought I was the quiet, submissive, obedient daughter who quietly paid off their overdue taxes, hid Tyler’s gambling debts, and smiled through their insults at Christmas dinners.
But that cover was just a play I created. In reality, I was a Forensic Accountant working for a federal task force against financial fraud. For two years, while they smugly bled me dry, I had been quietly gathering everything. I traced the loans my father opened under my name when I was nineteen. I had his forged signatures. I kept the fake renovation invoices his shell company issued. I even found the insurance checks he cashed after setting fire to his own warehouse for profit.
And the "packet" Daniel had just ordered to be released... contained copies of every single crime. Nothing was missing.
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It included bank records, audio recordings from their own kitchen where my mother said: "Once Lena marries rich, we’ll bleed him too." It had a signed affidavit from Tyler's bookie, who was happy to talk to avoid prison. And most importantly, a sworn statement from me, sealed with my attorney, with a clear instruction: Only to be delivered to the FBI and the IRS if my family attempts to extort the Whitmore family.
They hadn't just tried to extort us. They had done it with violence, right in front of a hundred witnesses. The trap had officially sprung shut.
