Chapter 4 - The Twisted Scheme
My hands trembled as I stared at the horrifying proof of their familial connection.
They were a family of grifters who targeted vulnerable women to steal their family fortunes.
Ryan would marry the victim, and his sister would later appear as a pregnant mistress to force a rapid divorce settlement.
I tucked the metal box under my arm and ran back to the main road to catch a bus.
I needed professional legal help immediately, so I headed straight to my trusted attorney's office.
Mr. Davis had been my family's lawyer for over twenty years.
I burst into his office and slammed the lockbox onto his polished mahogany desk.
"Ryan and that woman are siblings, and they are trying to steal my mother's estate," I told him frantically.
Mr. Davis looked at the documents, but his expression remained completely flat.
He did not look surprised, shocked, or even mildly concerned.
He slowly closed the folder and pushed it back across the desk toward me.
"I think the grief is finally getting to your head, Claire," he said smoothly.
"Ryan called me an hour ago to warn me that you were suffering from a severe mental breakdown."
I stared at him, realizing with a sickening jolt that Ryan had already bought his loyalty.
"You are helping them," I whispered, backing away from his desk.
Mr. Davis picked up his desk phone and dialed a three-digit number.
"Security, please detain the woman in my office until the psychiatric transport arrives," he ordered calmly.
I turned around and grabbed the heavy brass paperweight from his coffee table.
I shattered the glass of his office window and climbed out onto the fire escape just as the security guards burst through the door.
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As I climbed down the rusty ladder, my phone buzzed with a new message.
"If you want to take them down, meet me at the old pier in twenty minutes," the mysterious text read.
