Chapter 6 - THE WOMAN THEY PLANNED TO BLAME
The plan was crueler than theft.
They intended to destroy my marriage while stealing from me.
According to Mason, Teresa had spent months preparing a story.
Amy was supposedly unhappy.
Amy supposedly wanted money.
Amy supposedly had secret debts.
Once the fraudulent loan funded, Victor would move part of the money into an account designed to appear connected to Amy.
Then Teresa would “discover” the missing funds.
She expected me to panic.
She expected Victor to confirm the financial evidence.
And she expected Amy to look guilty.
“Why?”
Amy asked.
Mason rubbed his hands together.
“Aunt Teresa hated that Connor started putting you first.”
Amy almost laughed.
“Putting me first?”
Her eyes filled with tears.
“She controlled my grocery budget.”
Mason looked ashamed.
“She wanted the house back in the Bradley family.”
“It never left the Bradley family.”
I could barely control my voice.
“It is my home.”
“That’s not how she talked about it.”
Mason explained that Teresa believed everything I earned belonged partly to her because she had raised me.
My engineering salary.
My investments.
My house.
Even the life insurance policy protecting Amy and Frederick.
That was the part that made Detective Reed interrupt.
“What life insurance policy?”
I looked at him.
“My employer provides one.”
“How much?”
“One million dollars.”
Mason stopped moving.
Detective Reed noticed.
“So did Teresa.”
Mason said nothing.
Reed leaned forward.
“Mason.”
“I don’t know.”
“You reacted.”
Mason looked toward the camera in the corner.
Then toward me.
Finally, he whispered.
“There was another paper.”
My blood went cold.
“What paper?”
“A beneficiary form.”
I stood up.
Rachel grabbed my arm.
“Connor.”
I sat back down.
Mason continued.
“Victor said changing the beneficiary was harder.”
“Changing it to whom?”
Mason looked directly at me.
“Your mother.”
That changed everything.
The financial fraud was no longer just about the house.
I immediately contacted my employer.
My beneficiary remained Amy.
But someone had attempted to request change forms twice.
Both requests had failed because additional identity verification was required.
Teresa had been testing doors.
Bank accounts.
The deed.
Insurance.
My investments.
Anything that could be opened.
That night, Amy and I finally returned home.
Frederick slept between us.
I thought I would feel safer after changing the locks.
I did not.
At 3:14 a.m., the security system alerted my phone.
Someone was standing at the back door.
I opened the camera feed.
It was Teresa.
She was alone.
She stared directly into the camera.
Then she held up a key.
A key that should no longer work.
May you like
And smiled.
TOBE CONTINUED
