Chapter 6 - The Sister's Betrayal
I arrived at the crowded coffee shop exactly twenty minutes later, scanning the room until I spotted Ashley sitting in a dark corner booth.
She looked nervous, her eyes darting around the café, and she was entirely devoid of her usual arrogant swagger.
I slid into the booth across from her and placed my phone on the table, explicitly showing her that I was recording the conversation.
"You said you had the security footage from the apartment," I said, skipping any polite introductions.
Ashley pulled a small black USB drive from her designer purse but kept her hand firmly planted over it.
"I do, but I need a guarantee from you before I hand it over," she whispered frantically.
She explained that Olivia had entirely cut her off after my financial freeze took effect, leaving her drowning in credit card debt.
"I want fifty thousand dollars in cash, and I want you to promise you won't sue me when all of this goes to court," Ashley demanded.
I looked at her with absolute disgust, marveling at how easily she was willing to sell out her own family for a quick payout.
"Show me what is on that drive first, or I walk away right now and leave you to drown with them," I countered.
Ashley hesitated, but desperation won out, and she slid the flash drive across the table.
I plugged it into my tablet and opened the encrypted video files.
The footage was a complete archive from the hidden nanny cams I had installed when Emma was an infant, which I thought had been disabled years ago.
I watched in silent horror as the videos showed Olivia systematically locking Emma on the balcony whenever I was out of town.
It showed Daniel ignoring his screaming daughter while he spoke to Chloe on the phone for hours.
But the most damning video was timestamped three weeks ago.
It showed Daniel sitting at my home office desk, logging into my secure corporate portal using a skimming device attached to my keyboard.
He was stealing highly classified trade secrets and selling them to my company’s biggest corporate rival.
"This isn't just about custody anymore," I whispered, realizing the sheer scale of his crimes. "He committed federal corporate espionage."
Ashley nodded nervously.
"He got paid two million dollars for those files, and that's how he bought the house for Chloe without a mortgage," she explained.
I pulled out my checkbook, wrote a check for exactly fifty thousand dollars, and pushed it across the table.
"You are going to testify to all of this in federal court, Ashley," I said, grabbing the USB drive.
Ashley looked down at the check and let out a shaky breath.
"I will, but you need to understand something important," she warned.
May you like
She leaned across the table, her voice dropping to a terrified whisper.
"Daniel didn't just steal money and files, Sarah; he also took out a massive life insurance policy on you last month."
