Chapter 8 - The Deal at the Kitchen Island
“Help me leave Kevin,” Brenda whispered.
Thomas almost laughed.
“You helped him steal my home.”
“I made a mistake.”
“You forged documents.”
“Kevin forged them.”
“You told him to.”
Brenda glanced toward the stairs.
“He’s getting worse.”
Thomas remembered the hand gripping her wrist.
Fear did not erase guilt, but it explained her sudden desperation.
“What do you want from me?”
“Give me enough money to disappear. I’ll testify that the deed was forged.”
“You expect me to pay for the truth?”
“I expect you to decide whether you want your house back.”
Thomas looked at the woman who had smoked beside his medication, mocked his grief, and helped lock him in a room.
“No.”
Brenda’s eyes hardened.
“Then I’ll tell Kevin about your lawyer.”
“Do it.”
“He’ll destroy the documents.”
“Copies exist.”
“He’ll hurt you.”
Thomas’s cheek muscles tightened.
“He already has.”
Brenda took one step back.
Thomas continued.
“You think Daniel is waiting because he loves you?”
Her face sharpened.
“Don’t say his name.”
“I heard enough.”
“You know nothing about him.”
“I know he called while you were planning to abandon your husband.”
Brenda slapped her palm against the island.
“I will not go down with Kevin.”
“Then tell the truth without being paid.”
She stared at him.
For one brief moment, Thomas saw the frightened woman she might have been before greed hardened her.
Then footsteps sounded upstairs.
Kevin called Brenda’s name.
She moved toward the doorway, then stopped.
“The hearing was moved up,” she whispered. “Tomorrow morning.”
Thomas’s stomach dropped.
It had been scheduled four days later.
“Why?”
“Kevin bribed a clerk. He plans to have you declared incompetent before your lawyer can respond.”
“Why are you telling me?”
Brenda looked toward the staircase.
“Because tonight he asked me whether accidents on staircases look natural.”
Thomas felt the room tilt.
Brenda lowered her voice.
“He doesn’t need you alive after the court gives him control.”
Kevin appeared at the top of the stairs.
“What are you two talking about?”
Brenda smiled instantly.
“Your father was lost again.”
Kevin descended slowly.
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In his hand was Thomas’s missing legal strategy.
👉 The court hearing was only hours away, and Kevin had just learned exactly how Thomas planned to expose the forged deed.
