pause. Then a laugh. “Don’t act like an investigator. You’re her aunt, not a cop.”
“No,” I said. “I’m an accountant.”
She disconnected. Under my state’s one-party-consent law, I’d legally recorded the conversation and forwarded it to Grace. ConsultLawyers
The next morning, Vanessa sent a picture of herself and Jason boarding a plane with champagne, followed by:
You always wanted to feel important, she wrote. Keep the kid. We kept the money.
Now I understood the envelope. She needed my real signature to legitimize the earlier counterfeits, believing I would sign anything to escape responsibility for Lily.
Instead, Lily offered me a drawing of us beneath a lopsided blue roof.
“Is this okay?” she asked.
“It’s perfect,” I said, and carefully pinned it above my desk.
Below her picture, I organized the proof that would expose Vanessa.
PART 3 — THE PRICE OF BETRAYAL
Six weeks later, Vanessa arrived in probate
