Chapter 1 - The Insurance Policies
I watched my mother's fake tan seem to wash away under the harsh lighting of my entryway.
The dark folder in my hands felt heavier than it actually was.
Julian stopped scrolling on his phone and stared at the documents I was slowly pulling out.
My father took a step back, bumping into the expensive designer luggage they had carelessly dropped on my porch.
"What is that, Maya?" my mother asked, her voice suddenly losing its demanding edge.
I pulled out three separate sheets of paper and laid them side by side on the console table.
They were life insurance policies.
They were heavily funded, expedited policies taken out just two weeks before the fatal car crash.
The insured names listed on the documents were my late husband, Ethan, and my beautiful seven-year-old daughter.
The primary beneficiary listed on all of them was Julian.
"You took out two million dollars in life insurance on my family," I said, my voice eerily calm.
My father swallowed hard, his eyes darting frantically toward the open front door.
"Maya, you do not understand how much debt your brother is in," my mother stammered, completely missing the horror of what she had done.
Julian finally stepped forward, his fists clenched tight at his sides.
"I was going to give you a cut of the money once the payout cleared," Julian lied, his voice cracking.
I looked at the brother I used to protect when we were children.
"You did not just take out policies," I whispered, pulling out the final document from the folder.
It was a heavily redacted police report from the night of the crash.
"The mechanic found that Ethan's brake lines were intentionally cut," I stated.
My parents had not just ignored my grief.
May you like
They had actively funded the murder of my family.
Before I could reach for my phone to dial the police, Julian lunged forward and grabbed me by the throat.
