Chapter 3 - BRANDON STARTED PANICKING
At 1:07 a.m., Brandon finally stopped calling.
Then the messages began.
First angry.
What the hell are you doing?
Then demanding.
Turn the cards back on.
Then insulting.
You always overreact.
Then suddenly reasonable.
Come home and we can talk.
Then concerned.
Where is Skylar?
That message almost made me laugh.
He had eaten king crab while his daughter sat alone with instant soup.
Now he remembered he was a father.
I did not answer.
At 1:21 a.m., Gertrude called.
I let it ring.
At 1:23, she called again.
At 1:25, Hailey sent a voice message.
“Charlotte, this is ridiculous.”
Her voice was sharp.
“You embarrassed us at the restaurant because the backup card declined when we tried to order dessert.”
I stared at the phone.
Dessert.
They had already eaten hundreds of dollars of food.
My daughter had eaten soup.
And Hailey was angry about dessert.
The voice message continued.
“Brandon said you control everything when you’re upset, and honestly, this proves it.”
I saved the recording.
At 1:41 a.m., another message came from Brandon.
If you don’t fix the cards tonight, you’re going to ruin everything tomorrow.
I finally replied.
What happens tomorrow?
He answered too quickly.
Nothing.
Then another message.
Just a contractor meeting.
Contractor or architect?
Five minutes passed.
Charlotte, stop interrogating me.
I smiled without humor.
He knew I knew something.
He just did not know how much.
At 2:03 a.m., Evelyn sent me a screenshot.
The financing company had scheduled remote final verification for 10:30 the next morning.
That meant someone was expected to confirm my transfer document.
Someone might even be expected to pretend to be me.
Evelyn had already contacted a fraud specialist.
She had also advised the lender that the ownership transfer might be fraudulent without revealing every detail.
They agreed to freeze disbursement.
But they were willing to preserve the scheduled meeting while investigating.
I looked at the screen.
“So nobody gets the money?”
“No.”
“But Brandon won’t know that yet?”
“No.”
“Good.”
Evelyn sighed.
“You’re enjoying this slightly too much.”
“I’m exhausted.”
“You can be both.”
At 2:18 a.m., Brandon called again.
This time I answered.
“Where are you?”
His voice came fast.
“Safe.”
“Where’s Skylar?”
“With me.”
“You took my daughter out in the middle of the night without telling me.”
I looked toward the bed.
“She was eating instant soup alone in a dark kitchen while you were drinking imported wine.”
Silence.
Then he scoffed.
“Mom said she already ate.”
“Mom also said my money belongs to you.”
“Charlotte.”
“What?”
“Don’t twist things.”
“I’m not twisting anything.”
I let the silence stretch.
Then I asked quietly.
“What are you signing tomorrow?”
Brandon stopped breathing for half a second.
I heard it.
“Renovation papers.”
“For my house?”
“Our house.”
“Then why wasn’t I invited?”
He recovered quickly.
“It was supposed to be a surprise.”
I laughed.
That made him angry.
“Why are you acting like this?”
“Like what?”
“Like everyone is your enemy.”
“No.”
I looked at the folder Evelyn had sent me.
“Enemies are usually more careful.”
Then I hung up.
Three minutes later, Brandon sent one final message.
May you like
You’re going to regret humiliating my family.
I saved that one too.
