Chapter 7 - The Secret Family
The man leveled the barrel of the gun directly at my chest.
"Don't make a sound, lady," he growled, his eyes darting toward the open front door.
Marcus had stayed back in the car to call the police, leaving me completely alone in the foyer.
"Who are you?" I demanded, keeping my voice surprisingly steady.
The man let out a harsh laugh.
"I'm the guy your husband owes a lot of money to," he replied.
Footsteps hurried down the wooden stairs, and Vanessa appeared holding a large duffel bag.
She stopped dead when she saw me standing at gunpoint.
"I told you to wait in the car, Greg!" Vanessa hissed at the armed man.
I stared at them, the pieces of her twisted puzzle finally snapping together in my mind.
"You have a second family," I realized out loud.
Vanessa didn't even bother to deny it.
Greg was her secret husband, a man with a rap sheet longer than my grocery list.
She had been using the money I earned, and the money Daniel stole, to fund a completely separate life in another state.
"Ethan and Lily were just pawns to keep the child support checks rolling in," I said, utterly disgusted.
Vanessa smirked and walked past me toward the door.
"They are ungrateful brats, just like their father," she spat.
"I've got three million dollars in a crypto wallet, and I am finally done with all of you."
She grabbed Greg's arm and tried to pull him toward the exit.
Suddenly, the unmistakable wail of police sirens pierced the quiet suburban neighborhood.
Red and blue lights began flashing furiously through the front windows.
Marcus hadn't just called the local police; he had called the FBI financial crimes unit.
Greg panicked, lowering the gun and looking wildly for a back exit.
"You set us up!" Vanessa screamed at me, dropping the heavy duffel bag.
Before she could run, the front door was kicked open by heavily armed tactical agents.
"FBI! Drop the weapon and get on the ground!" the lead agent roared.
Greg immediately dropped the gun and fell to his knees with his hands behind his head.
Vanessa tried to run toward the kitchen, but an agent tackled her hard onto the hardwood floor.
As they snapped the handcuffs onto Vanessa's wrists, two figures appeared in the open doorway.
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Ethan and Lily stood on the porch, having taken an Uber from the hospital to confront their mother.
They had heard every single word Vanessa had said about them.
