Chapter 3 - The Files Beneath the LiesMargaret's private filing cabinet was locked.
Ethan broke it open.
Inside were years of documents.
Medical evaluations.
Bank transfers.
Private investigator reports.
Psychiatric assessments.
Photographs of Ava.
Hundreds of them.
Ava at work.
Ava leaving restaurants.
Ava entering the university.
Ava meeting Ethan.
Ava smiling.
Ava unaware that someone had been watching her.
Then Ethan found a folder marked:
OCTOBER 14, 2022.
His hands began to shake.
That was the date of Ava's crash.
The crash that had changed everything.
He opened it.
A mechanic's invoice.
A wire transfer.
A photograph of Ava's car.
And a flash drive.
Ethan plugged it into his laptop.
Hundreds of audio recordings appeared.
He clicked the oldest.
Static.
Then Margaret's voice.
"Make sure the brake line fails on the curve."
A man's voice answered.
"What if she dies?"
"I don't want her dead."
A pause.
"I want her helpless."
Ethan stopped breathing.
Margaret continued.
"If she becomes disabled, I can argue that she's incapable of managing her assets."
The recording ended.
Ethan stared at the screen.
Three years of grief suddenly became something else.
A crime.
A carefully planned crime.
Ava watched his face.
"What did you find?"
Ethan couldn't speak.
He turned the laptop toward her.
Ava listened.
When the recording ended, tears rolled silently down her cheeks.
"I knew something was wrong."
Ethan took her hand.
"We're going to prove it."
Ava looked at him.
"She almost destroyed our lives."
"No."
May you like
Ethan's voice hardened.
"She almost did."
Related Stories
