Chapter 8 - The Messages That Never Reached Him
Victoria claimed Margaret’s phone had been lost.
Ethan did not believe her.
He called the number.
A faint vibration came from the kitchen.
They followed the sound to a locked drawer beneath the wine cabinet.
Inside were three phones.
Margaret’s.
The former nurse’s work phone.
And an old device Ethan had used for business travel.
Victoria lunged toward the drawer.
Ethan blocked her path.
“Do not touch them.”
He opened Margaret’s phone.
There were forty-seven unsent messages addressed to him.
Ethan read the first.
Ethan, please call when Victoria isn’t home.
The next:
I think she canceled the nurse.
Another:
I am afraid to sleep because she locks the door.
The final message had been written six days earlier.
I am sorry. I tried not to burden you. I don’t think I can do this much longer.
Ethan gripped the counter.
He had received none of them.
Victoria had accessed Margaret’s account and disabled outgoing messages.
She had also sent replies from Ethan’s old phone.
Stop exaggerating, Mom.
Listen to Victoria.
I cannot deal with this right now.
Margaret believed those replies came from her son.
Ethan turned toward his mother.
She was sitting at the kitchen table, holding a glass of water with both hands.
“You thought I wrote these?”
Tears filled Margaret’s eyes.
“I thought you were tired of me.”
Ethan crouched beside her.
“I would never say that.”
Victoria rolled her eyes.
“She knew exactly what she was doing.”
Ethan rose.
“Why did you have my old phone?”
Victoria’s confidence flickered.
“I found it in a drawer.”
“That phone requires a security code.”
“You gave it to me.”
“No, I didn’t.”
Ethan checked the login history.
His banking app had been opened repeatedly.
So had the account he used to pay for Margaret’s care.
The money had not disappeared.
May you like
It had been redirected.
👉 The twelve thousand dollars Ethan sent each month had funded something Victoria never expected him to discover.
