Chapter 6 - The Conversation Behind Closed Doors
Ryan returned home shortly after seven.
A recording device rested beneath the collar of his shirt.
Detective Ruiz and two officers waited nearby.
Nicole listened from Maya’s office.
Charles was in the study.
Brenda stood beside the desk with the blue folder open.
The knife remained embedded in the dining table.
No one had dared remove it.
Charles looked at Ryan.
“Where’s your wife?”
“I don’t know.”
“Wrong answer.”
Charles slammed his palm against the desk.
“You let her walk out with evidence.”
Ryan forced himself not to flinch.
“What evidence?”
Brenda stepped closer.
“She knows about the cameras.”
“Then erase the system,” Ryan said.
Charles laughed.
“You think we haven’t tried?”
Nicole had encrypted the backup server.
Every attempt to delete footage created another copy.
Charles poured bourbon with an unsteady hand.
“We move the remaining trust funds today. Then we report Nicole for fraud.”
Ryan glanced at the folder.
“How much remains?”
“Enough.”
“How much, Dad?”
Charles’s eyes narrowed.
“Eighteen million.”
Nicole went still.
Ryan’s grandfather had left more than twenty-three million dollars.
Charles had stolen almost five million and was preparing to move the rest.
Ryan asked, “Where?”
Brenda answered before Charles could stop her.
“The Hawthorne account.”
Charles spun toward her.
“Shut up.”
But the name had been captured.
Detective Ruiz immediately sent it to investigators.
Ryan continued.
“And the statement I signed?”
“Already delivered to our attorney,” Charles said. “If Nicole talks, she becomes the architect of the entire scheme.”
Ryan’s voice shook.
“She could go to prison.”
Charles stepped close enough that their faces nearly touched.
“That woman made you weak. Prison might improve her attitude.”
Ryan’s breathing changed.
For the first time, anger replaced fear.
“You hit her.”
“She disrespected me.”
“You hit my wife.”
Charles grabbed Ryan by the collar.
“And you stood there.”
The words struck Ryan harder than any fist.
Because they were true.
Brenda moved between them.
“Stop this. We need him cooperative.”
Ryan glanced at the safe.
“Where are the original documents?”
Charles smiled.
“Somewhere Nicole will never find them.”
Then Brenda looked toward the fireplace.
Only for a second.
But Nicole noticed.
The hidden documents were not in the safe.
They were near the fireplace.
Detective Ruiz prepared to enter.
Before she could give the order, Charles pulled Ryan’s phone from his pocket.
The live audio shifted violently.
“What’s this?” Charles demanded.
May you like
The line went silent.
👉 Charles had discovered Ryan’s wire—and Nicole heard a crash before the connection abruptly died.
