Chapter 7
Olivia did not answer.
She did not have to.
Her face had already betrayed her.
Detective Harris caught it too.
Within a week, Madison Carter’s death investigation reopened.
Olivia’s financial records were seized.
Ashley’s accounts.
Tyler’s accounts.
Daniel’s accounts.
Mine had already been locked down.
For three years, Olivia had used me like an ATM while calling herself family.
She paid Lily’s tuition.
Paid Tyler to stay quiet.
Paid Ashley’s debts.
Paid for Daniel’s credit cards.
Paid a private doctor who had signed Madison’s last prescription.
Rebecca sat across from me with a folder so thick it barely closed.
“This is not just divorce anymore.”
“I know.”
“Olivia may have been blackmailing Daniel.”
I looked at her.
“Does that excuse him?”
“No.”
Good.
I needed someone to say it plainly.
Daniel requested supervised visits with Emma.
I said no until the court ordered a child therapist to evaluate.
Emma did not ask for him.
That told me more than any report.
Lily was placed temporarily with Grace.
But Grace worked nights and had two children of her own.
So I did something that surprised everyone, including myself.
I offered help.
Not custody.
Not control.
Help.
Grace stared at me.
“After what they did with your money?”
“Lily didn’t do it.”
Her eyes filled.
“She’s scared of owing people.”
“So am I.”
That was how Lily first came to my apartment.
She stood in the doorway holding Grace’s hand, thin and solemn, wearing shoes too big for her.
Emma peeked from behind me.
They stared at each other.
Then Emma held out her stuffed rabbit.
“You can hold Bunny if you’re scared.”
Lily looked at Grace.
Grace nodded.
Lily took it with both hands.
That night, the girls ate grilled cheese at my kitchen island.
Emma asked, “Did your grandma put you outside too?”
Lily nodded.
“Sometimes.”
Emma slid half her sandwich over.
“You can have mine.”
I turned away before they saw me cry.
Daniel’s paternity test came back two weeks later.
Lily was his daughter.
Ashley screamed at Olivia in the courthouse hallway when she heard.
“You let me date Tyler while he raised my brother’s child?”
Olivia said coldly, “Tyler was useful.”
Ashley slapped her.
Nobody stopped her quickly.
Some people pretended not to see.
I understood the impulse.
But justice needed paper, not impulse.
Madison’s sister testified.
Tyler testified after taking a deal.
Ashley testified too.
She was vain, selfish, and cruel at my dinner table.
But she had not known everything.
That did not make her innocent.
It made her useful.
Then the medical examiner found the old blood sample from Madison’s case.
The overdose level did not match the pill bottle.
Someone had staged it.
May you like
The prescription came from Olivia’s private doctor.
And the doctor had been paid from an account funded by my monthly transfers.
