Chapter 3 — Every Lie Began to Collapse
The officers separated everyone into different rooms.
Sophia sat quietly while a female detective photographed every bruise.
Leo was rushed to an ambulance waiting outside.
His temperature measured 104.2 degrees.
Another few hours without treatment could have caused permanent damage.
Inside the living room, my attorney opened the final folder.
"For the record," he said, "there is also financial fraud."
Eleanor frowned.
"What fraud?"
Daniel laid out twelve months of bank statements.
While I had been deployed overseas, my military salary had continued to arrive every month.
Nearly eighty thousand dollars had disappeared.
Withdrawn.
Transferred.
Spent.
Luxury jewelry.
Designer clothing.
Spa vacations.
Wine clubs.
Every payment had been made using the power of attorney I had granted my mother solely to pay household expenses.
She had emptied nearly every account.
Audrey suddenly pointed at her mother.
"She told me you approved everything!"
Eleanor turned toward her daughter.
"You spent half of it!"
The detective quietly smiled.
May you like
"So now you're both admitting it."
The handcuffs appeared only moments later.
