Chapter 16 - PRESTON'S LAST THREAT
The voicemail arrived at 2:13 in the morning.
Unknown number.
I almost deleted it.
Then I heard Preston’s voice.
“Megan, this has gone too far.”
I sat upright in bed.
“If Dad loses the company, that is on you.”
His words were slurred slightly.
“I made mistakes.”
A pause.
“But you are burning down thirty years of our family’s work because you want revenge.”
I listened without breathing.
“You think Sophie is going to thank you when Grandpa loses his house?”
Another pause.
“You think she’ll feel good knowing two hundred employees might lose their jobs?”
There it was.
The same strategy.
Guilt.
Responsibility.
Make me accountable for the consequences of his behavior.
Then his voice changed.
Lower.
Colder.
“You still have copies of those original spreadsheets.”
My heart began pounding.
“Destroy them.”
He paused.
“If you don’t, everything gets uglier.”
The message ended.
I called Detective Morales.
Police increased patrols near my home.
Rachel instructed me not to answer Preston directly.
The next morning, however, something unexpected happened.
My father arrived at my front door.
He looked terrible.
Unshaven.
Exhausted.
I did not let him inside.
“What do you want?”
“He called you.”
It was not a question.
“How do you know?”
“He called me afterward.”
Dad looked toward the street.
“He said he’d make you regret this.”
I folded my arms.
“And?”
“I gave police everything.”
I stared at him.
“What does everything mean?”
“Passwords.”
“Records?”
“Yes.”
“Loan documents?”
“Yes.”
“Your communications with Preston?”
His face tightened.
“Yes.”
For the first time, my father had chosen consequences over concealment.
It did not erase anything.
But it mattered.
“I should have stopped him years ago.”
I said nothing.
“I kept thinking if I protected him long enough, he would grow up.”
Dad’s eyes filled.
“He never had to.”
That was the first honest thing my father had said since the wedding.
He looked past me toward the hallway.
“Is Sophie here?”
“Yes.”
“Can I see her?”
“No.”
Pain crossed his face.
I let the silence remain.
He nodded.
May you like
“I understand.”
Maybe he finally did.
