Chapter 6 - The Betrayal
With their money gone and their reputations destroyed, it didn't take long for Mark and Brenda to turn on each other. There is no honor among thieves, and Brenda was the ultimate opportunist.
Three days later, we sat in a sterile deposition room downtown. Mark sat on one side of the table, looking utterly defeated, flanked by a cheap public defender.
To everyone's shock, Brenda walked in with her own lawyer. She didn't even look at her son.
“What is she doing here?” Mark hissed.
Brenda’s lawyer slid a document across the table to the District Attorney. “My client is prepared to offer full cooperation in the federal fraud investigation against Mark Vance, in exchange for immunity. She has text messages proving Mark orchestrated the forgery and the illegal loan entirely on his own.”
Mark leaped out of his chair. “You lied to me! You said we were in this together! You spent half that money at the casino!”
“Sit down, Mr. Vance!” the DA barked.
Brenda adjusted her expensive scarf, looking down her nose at her own son. “I’m sorry, Mark. But I cannot go to prison for your mistakes. I’m an old woman.”
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It was the ultimate betrayal. Brenda, the woman who had manipulated her son into kicking his wife out, was now throwing him to the wolves to save her own skin.
Clara watched the entire exchange from the corner of the room. The fear she had harbored for these people completely evaporated. They weren't monsters. They were just pathetic, selfish cowards.
