Chapter 7 - The Blackmail Attempt
The trial was approaching, and my parents were backed into a corner. The federal prosecutors had an airtight case: fraud, tax evasion, money laundering, and flight risk.
Three days before the trial, I received an unannounced visitor at my door. It was my mother—Susan. She looked unhinged.
"Let me in, Elena," she demanded, her voice raw.
"You aren't supposed to be within five hundred feet of me, Susan. That’s a violation of your bail," I warned, keeping the chain lock on.
She shoved a thick envelope through the crack in the door. "Open it."
I hesitated, then pulled the papers out. They were forged medical documents, stamped with a shady doctor’s signature, claiming David had been illegally prescribing himself medication before his fatal car crash.
"If you don't drop the civil suit and refuse to testify," Susan spat venomously, "I go to the press with this. I ruin David’s legacy. I'll make sure everyone in this town thinks your precious fiancé was a drug addict who got what was coming to him."
I felt a blinding flash of rage. They had taken my money, my family, and my sanity. Now they were trying to ruin the memory of the only man who ever loved me.
I looked at the woman who raised me. I saw nothing but a monster.
"Go ahead," I said softly.
She blinked, confused. "What?"
"Go to the press," I told her. "Because Marcus already ran a background check on this doctor. He lost his license three years ago for accepting bribes. If you submit this, it’s witness tampering and extortion. That’s another ten years in federal prison."
I pulled out my phone and held it up, showing the active call screen.
"Did you get all that, Detective?" I asked into the speaker.
May you like
"Loud and clear, ma'am," the police detective replied.
Susan’s face contorted in sheer horror. She turned to run, but the unmarked police cruiser was already pulling into my driveway. She was arrested on my front lawn, screaming obscenities at me as they shoved her into the back of the car.
