Chapter 3 - THE BUTTON
The button I'd pressed hadn't called the police.
Not exactly.
Two weeks earlier, I'd discovered something strange.
An email had arrived at my office account from an anonymous address.
No message.
Just three attachments.
Invoices.
Bank transfers.
Property records.
At first, I assumed it was spam.
Then I recognized a company name.
Wilson Development Group.
I called Jason immediately.
He told me not to open anything else.
That was the first warning.
The second came when the email disappeared from my inbox twenty minutes later.
Not moved.
Not deleted by me.
Gone.
My company security team recovered it.
That's when I called someone I trusted.
Detective Lena Ortiz had been my college roommate before life took us in completely different directions.
She worked financial crimes now.
I showed her the documents.
She didn't make accusations.
She didn't jump to conclusions.
She simply told me something I never forgot.
“If someone is trying this hard to erase a document, save three copies.”
So I did.
Lena also helped me install an emergency evidence upload on my phone.
One tap.
Every photo, recording, screenshot, and document in a protected folder would automatically transfer to secure cloud storage accessible by my attorney.
That was the button Margaret had just watched me press.
But Margaret didn't know that.
Not yet.
“What are you doing?”
She stared at my phone.
“Protecting myself.”
“From what?”
I looked at the destroyed dress.
“You.”
Richard stepped forward.
“What did Ortiz say?”
My eyes snapped toward him.
“How do you know Lena?”
His face changed.
Jason closed his eyes.
Margaret whispered,
“Idiot.”
That single word told me everything.
“You've spoken to her.”
Richard nodded slowly.
“Yesterday.”
“Why?”
“Because I contacted the district attorney's office myself.”
Margaret spun toward him.
“You what?”
Richard looked at his wife.
“It's over.”
Her face emptied.
“What did you do?”
“What I should have done years ago.”
Margaret crossed the room.
“You pathetic old man.”
Jason stepped between them.
“Mom.”
“Get out of my way.”
“No.”
Margaret stared at her son.
Something broke behind her eyes.
“You chose her.”
Jason didn't answer.
“You chose that woman over your own mother.”
I stepped forward.
“No.”
Margaret looked at me.
“He chose not to help you commit crimes.”
Her lips curled.
“You think you're clever.”
“I think you burned a wedding dress in a room with witnesses.”
Margaret's eyes narrowed.
“You still don't understand anything.”
“Then explain it.”
She smiled again.
But now it looked desperate.
“You think those fourteen million dollars were stolen?”
Nobody spoke.
Margaret looked directly at Richard.
“Tell them.”
Richard's face became gray.
“Margaret.”
“Tell your precious son where the money really went.”
Jason stared at his father.
“Dad?”
Richard sank into a chair.
For the first time since I'd known him, he looked old.
“The money wasn't stolen.”
I felt my pulse quicken.
“Then where did it go?”
Richard looked at Jason.
“To keep someone quiet.”
Jason stopped breathing.
“Who?”
May you like
Richard's answer changed everything.
“Your brother.”
