Chapter 2 - The Unmasking|
The footage was clearly taken from a smartphone camera, angled slightly from inside a leather designer handbag. The audio was slightly muffled at first, but within seconds, the room’s high-tech acoustics amplified every single word.
The scene on the screen showed the sunlit interior of a high-end coffee shop in downtown Newport. Sitting across from a woman in sunglasses was a man I recognized instantly.
My stomach twisted into a sickening knot.
Mark. My ex-husband. The man who had walked out on Lily and me three years ago, leaving us drowned in medical debt after Lily’s emergency spinal surgery.
“Did you make sure she signed the waiver?” Vanessa’s voice boomed from the speakers.
On screen, the woman removed her sunglasses. It was Vanessa, wearing her favorite silk scarf.
“She signed it,” Mark’s voice replied lazily. “Claire is so overwhelmed with Lily’s therapy bills she doesn’t read the fine print anymore. She thinks she waived her rights to my pension.”
“Good,” Vanessa laughed on the recording. It was a cold, mocking sound I had heard her use my entire life, usually directed at me. “If she knew Dad left her fifty percent of the family trust in his original will, she’d hire a lawyer. As long as she thinks you’re broke, she’ll keep taking extra teaching shifts and staying out of my way.”
Silence fell over the Rosewood Estate. It was so absolute, so suffocating, that you could hear the hum of the air conditioning.
I stood frozen in the center aisle, my breath trapped in my chest.
Fifty percent of Dad’s trust?
When my father died four years ago, my mother and Vanessa told me Dad had left everything to Mom because of his business debts. They told me there was no money left for Lily’s medical treatments. They had watched me sell my car, take out loans, and work sixty hours a week while Lily struggled to walk.
“Vanessa?” Graham’s voice broke through the silence. It wasn’t loud, but it carried a razor-sharp edge.
May you like
Vanessa spun around, her eyes wild, her veil catching on her heavy diamond necklace.
“Graham, listen to me!” she pleaded, her hands trembling as she reached for his arm. “It’s a fake! It’s an AI video! Claire made her daughter put it up there to ruin my day because she’s jealous!”
