Chapter 7 - GERTRUDE’S REAL PLAN
Gertrude turned on Brandon so fast that even Hailey stopped crying.
“You begged me to help you.”
Brandon’s face hardened.
“Mom.”
“You said Charlotte was going to divorce you.”
I stared at him.
That was new.
Gertrude continued.
“You said she would take the house and leave us with nothing.”
Brandon looked toward the investigator.
“You need to stop talking.”
Gertrude laughed bitterly.
“Now you care what I say?”
The investigator asked everyone to remain calm.
Gertrude ignored him.
“You said the loan would protect your share.”
“My share?”
I asked.
She looked at me as if she had forgotten I was in the room.
“What exactly were you protecting?”
Gertrude straightened.
“Brandon built this family.”
I almost laughed.
“With my credit.”
“That is not the same thing.”
“With my down payment.”
“Money isn’t everything.”
“With my mortgage payments.”
“You were married.”
“With my salary paying your additional card.”
Her face flushed.
“Don’t humiliate me.”
I stared at her.
“You made my daughter eat instant soup alone while you ate food I paid for.”
Gertrude lifted her chin.
“She needed discipline.”
Skylar moved closer to me.
Something inside me went completely cold.
“Discipline for what?”
“For acting entitled.”
“She is eleven.”
“She needs to understand that adults come first.”
I heard Evelyn inhale sharply.
Gertrude continued because she still believed she was right.
“You spoiled her.”
“With dinner?”
“With attention.”
Skylar lowered her head.
I stepped between them.
“You will never speak to my daughter like that again.”
Gertrude scoffed.
“She is Brandon’s daughter too.”
Brandon said nothing.
That silence answered a question I had been asking myself for years.
When forced to choose between being a son and being a father, Brandon would always become Gertrude’s son first.
The investigator returned to the documents.
“Mrs. Gertrude Reed, did you have access to Charlotte Reed’s identification?”
Gertrude looked at Brandon.
Brandon looked away.
Her expression changed.
“I found copies in the office.”
“Did you photograph them?”
“I may have.”
“Why?”
“For family records.”
The investigator asked another question.
“Did you send those photographs to your son?”
Gertrude hesitated.
Then Hailey whispered.
“She sent them in the family group chat.”
Everyone looked at her.
Hailey raised both hands.
“I still have it.”
Gertrude’s face collapsed.
Hailey pulled out her phone.
She scrolled.
Then she showed the investigator.
A photograph of my driver’s license.
A photograph of the mortgage statement.
A photograph of the house title.
And beneath them, a message from Gertrude.
This should be enough.
My blood ran cold.
“What was enough for?”
Hailey looked at Brandon.
Brandon said nothing.
She answered anyway.
“For the paperwork.”
The investigator took notes.
I looked at Brandon.
“You knew.”
His jaw tightened.
“I knew Mom had documents.”
“You knew.”
“I didn’t know exactly what she did with them.”
Gertrude laughed.
“You told me what to do.”
Brandon shouted.
“Stop.”
The investigator raised his voice.
“Everyone needs to sit down.”
I did not move.
I looked at the man I had married.
“You thought I was going to divorce you?”
Brandon’s expression shifted.
“I thought you might.”
“So your solution was to take money out of the house before I could leave?”
May you like
He looked away.
That was the first honest answer he gave me all morning.
