Chapter 13 - EDNA — LEVERAGE
I expected to see more footage of myself being humiliated.
Instead, the first recording showed Fallon and Travis arguing in her kitchen.
The date stamp placed it three weeks before my visit.
“She's the easiest one,” Travis said.
“She'll sign anything if Wade asks nicely.”
Fallon leaned against the counter.
“She adores him. That's the problem and the solution.”
I could barely breathe.
They discussed a guarantor document and a plan to pressure me with Wade's mortgage.
Then Fallon mentioned Robert.
“She married a bigger prize than she realizes.”
Travis laughed.
“Then why are we still chasing the son?”
“Because Robert loves her,” Fallon answered.
“And love makes even powerful people careless.”
I watched the recording twice, each time hearing a new layer of cruelty.
They had not merely regarded me as beneath them.
They had studied my devotion like a weakness they could exploit.
Evelyn warned me the recordings would require authentication and careful handling.
I understood.
But their words were still burned into me.
Robert sat beside me without touching the screen.
“I'm sorry,” he said.
“Don't apologize for their choices.”
“I'm sorry they made you feel alone.”
That was different.
I leaned against him and cried until I had nothing left.
Later that afternoon, Nina revealed the most disturbing discovery yet.
The cloud folder also contained notes describing my movements.
Medical appointments.
Shopping trips.
Visits to Ruth.
The authorship of those notes was uncertain, but someone had been paying attention to far more than my finances.
Robert arranged for a licensed security consultant to evaluate our home, while Evelyn reported the information to law enforcement.
I hated needing protection.
I hated more that the people who might have caused this had eaten at my table.
Wade arrived after sunset.
He looked at the evidence folder but refused to watch the recording.
“I know what Fallon says when she's angry,” he muttered.
“This isn't about anger,” I told him.
“This is a plan.”
He shook his head as if denial could erase a sentence.
“You don't know her.”
“I know what she said.”
He left again without saying goodbye.
At midnight, Ruth telephoned.
Her front window had been broken by a stone.
Wrapped around it was a note.
TELL EDNA TO STOP DIGGING.
May you like
I realized with horror that the people around me were paying for my son's silence.
