Chapter 5
CHAPTER 5: STEPPING INTO THE DARKNESS
The next morning, I didn't go to work. The outrage and sheer determination to uncover the entire truth pushed me to act. Through a lawyer friend, I hired Rachel Monroe, a private investigator and former police detective with an unshakable reputation.
I asked Rachel to tear apart everything about Marissa's life over the past five years. I needed to know who the woman sleeping in my bed truly was.
In just one week, Rachel called me into her office.
The detective pushed a thick folder toward me, her face expressionless but her eyes sympathetic. "Mr. Vance, brace yourself. What I found is not pleasant."
I opened the first page. It was a financial statement.
Marissa was drowning in massive debt. Unsecured personal loans, over a dozen maxed-out credit cards, and secret accounts registered under a P.O. Box I never knew existed.
"Totaling over three hundred thousand dollars," Rachel said.
I stared at the numbers, my head spinning. "Impossible. I manage the primary finances in our house. Her salary is good. How could I not know about this debt?"
"Because she used credit cards opened under her maiden name, transferring balances around to hide them," Rachel explained. "She has an addiction to designer goods, online gambling, and lost a fortune in crypto investments."
Rachel pointed to another file with a red paperclip. "But that isn't the worst part. Look at her recent contacts."
In the past six months, Marissa had contacted at least three lawyers specializing in real estate and inheritance law. Her search history on her personal laptop (which Rachel had skillfully extracted) was filled with search terms: "How to transfer property from an incapacitated elder," "Inheritance disputes without a will," "Emergency power of attorney procedures."
The behavioral pattern was unmistakable. She wasn't just angry with my mother. She had planned to take the house for a long time. And when my mother adamantly refused to sign the papers, combined with her falling ill and being hospitalized, Marissa decided to take the most extreme route to "accelerate" the inheritance through me—the sole legal heir.
May you like
"She planned to kill my mother so I would inherit the house, and then use that money to pay off her debts," I gasped, my voice trembling with disgust.
But Rachel shook her head, gently placing a photograph on the desk. "She wasn't planning to pay off her debts to live happily ever after with you, David."
