Chapter 2 - THE OTHER MAN
The recording began with the clink of a wineglass.
Then Evelyn's voice, soft and intimate.
"Walter still thinks the money is going into the lake property."
A man's laugh answered her.
"And Daniel?"
"Daniel believes whatever I tell him. He always has."
Every eye in the dining room shifted toward my husband.
Daniel went pale.
Evelyn lunged at me. "Turn that off!"
Walter Carter stepped between us.
He was seventy-one, broad-shouldered even after heart surgery, and for the first time since I had married into the family, I saw him look at his wife as if she were a stranger.
The recording continued.
Victor said, "Once he signs the revised trust, we move the rest. Then you and I don't need to hide anymore."
Evelyn whispered, "Just be patient."
Walter's face went gray.
"Who is Victor?" he asked.
Evelyn looked around wildly. "This is edited. Rebecca made it. She hates me."
"I don't even know how to edit audio," I said.
"Liar!"
She tried to reach me again, but Walter caught her wrist.
"Enough."
One word. Quiet. Final.
Daniel stared at me. "You recorded Mom?"
"That's what you're worried about?"
He had no answer.
Walter held out his hand. "Rebecca. Give me the phone."
I hesitated, then passed it to him.
He replayed the final twelve seconds.
Victor: "And the girl?"
Evelyn: "I'll handle Rebecca tomorrow. By dinner, this family will think she'd steal from a dead man."
Aunt Susan covered her mouth.
Daniel's arms finally dropped from his chest.
Walter slowly turned to Evelyn.
"You planted the money accusation."
Evelyn's eyes filled with fury, not shame.
"You don't understand what I've done for this family."
"Then explain it."
She smiled.
That smile scared me more than the slap.
"Gladly," she said. "But first, ask your precious Rebecca why she has a key to your study."
Walter looked at me.
May you like
I didn't have a key to his study.
But when Evelyn reached into her pocket and dropped a brass key onto the table, it had my initials scratched into the tag.
