Chapter 28
The call disconnected.
Ethan dropped the phone into the snow, sprinting over to his father’s truck where Richard stood, pale and trembling. “Dad! Did Melissa come near the truck before you left the farm?!”
Richard’s eyes widened in realization. “She... she called me right after you did, Ethan. She said she was terrified and wanted to make sure I brought the cash. I told her the safe combination over the phone so she could count it out if she got there before me. But I got there first, grabbed the duffel, and drove out.”
“She didn't want the cash, Dad,” Ethan said, his mind racing at a million miles an hour. “What else is in that safe?”
Richard staggered back against the truck tire, his hand flying to his mouth. “The deeds... the corporate shares for the construction firm. The offshore legacy account information from my grandfather. Everything. It’s worth millions, Ethan. It’s the entire financial backbone of this family.”
Lauren stepped out of the SUV, holding Noah tightly against her chest. She looked at Ethan, the terror returning to her eyes. “She used us as a distraction. The lawsuit, the P.I., the stalking... she knew you would focus entirely on protecting Noah. She made herself the monster so we wouldn't see what she was actually stealing.”
Ethan stood in the howling Iowa wind, the pieces finally falling into place. Patricia didn’t want custody of Noah. She knew a judge would never give a bankrupt, emotionally unstable grandmother a child over two fit parents. The entire court battle, the PI photos, the burner phone calls—it was an elaborate, high-stakes psychological smoke screen.
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She wanted the money. She wanted the power to destroy Richard and Ethan financially, forcing them to their knees.
And Melissa hadn’t been a whistleblower. She had been the inside operative from the very beginning.
