Chapter 12 - MY SISTER TALKS
Lauren asked to speak with me.
I said no.
She asked again through her attorney.
I refused again.
On the third request, she offered a proffer to prosecutors.
That changed things.
I watched her interview through a secure video connection from the hospital.
Lauren looked smaller without her makeup and expensive clothes.
I expected that to make me feel something.
It didn’t.
She admitted taking the check.
One hundred thousand dollars.
My mother told her it was an advance from future family money.
Lauren claimed she believed the vitamins were only intended to make me tired and convince me to stop fighting over the trust.
Detective Ruiz didn’t let her hide behind that explanation.
“You heard your mother say the pregnancy needed to end.”
Lauren cried.
“I thought she was exaggerating.”
“You kicked your pregnant sister.”
“I was angry.”
“You aimed at her stomach.”
Lauren covered her face.
Then she finally said the truth.
“My father told me Hannah was taking everything.”
There it was.
Not an excuse.
A confession of how easily jealousy had been weaponized.
Lauren had spent her entire life measuring love through comparison.
Who got more praise.
Who got more money.
Who was prettier.
Who disappointed Dad less.
My parents had fed that resentment until it became useful.
Then Lauren revealed something unexpected.
“The original trust documents aren’t at the house.”
Detective Ruiz leaned forward.
“Where are they?”
“Dad moved them.”
“When?”
“The night before the barbecue.”
“Where?”
Lauren hesitated.
“If I tell you, I want it in my cooperation agreement.”
Even now she was negotiating.
Ruiz stared at her.
“Where?”
She swallowed.
“Warehouse Fourteen.”
Mercer Development owned several storage warehouses outside Nashville.
Number Fourteen had supposedly been empty for years.
The police obtained a warrant.
What they found inside changed the entire investigation.
Boxes of financial records.
Old computers.
Shredders.
May you like
My grandmother’s missing estate files.
And one locked steel cabinet labeled with my name.
