Chapter 12 - The Person We Never Suspected
The video played on the large screen.
Michael stood in a parking garage.
Talking to someone.
At first, the person's face was hidden.
Then they turned.
My heart stopped.
"Jennifer..."
My former best friend.
The woman who had betrayed me before.
She was working with Michael.
Charles looked shocked.
"I thought she disappeared."
I stared at the screen.
"How long?"
The investigator answered:
"Months."
I felt sick.
Another person pretending to care.
Another person hiding behind a smile.
Later that night, Jennifer was found.
She didn't run.
Maybe she knew running was pointless.
When she saw me, she looked ashamed.
"Emily."
I looked at her.
"Why?"
Tears filled her eyes.
"I was angry."
"At me?"
She nodded.
"Everyone saw you as perfect."
I shook my head.
"I was being hurt in my own home."
"I didn't know."
"You knew enough."
She looked away.
And I realized something.
People don't always hurt you because they hate you.
Sometimes they hurt you because they cannot stand seeing you survive.
Charles asked:
"Why were you helping Michael?"
Jennifer answered quietly.
"He promised me money."
I stared.
"That's it?"
She nodded.
"I thought I was just helping him expose your father."
I looked at her.
"And when Ryan attacked me?"
Her face changed.
"I didn't know it would go that far."
But that was the problem.
Everyone said the same thing.
They didn't know.
They didn't mean it.
They didn't plan for the consequences.
But I was still the one who suffered.
That night, the investigator brought another report.
Michael wasn't planning to stop.
He had prepared something bigger.
Something that could destroy Charles forever.
A hidden document.
A document proving...
May you like
Or appearing to prove...
That Charles had committed fraud.
