Chapter 5: The Person Who Helped Her

I didn’t sleep that night.

Not because I was angry.

Because I was trying to understand how someone could look at a child and see an opportunity instead of a person.

Lily was asleep upstairs.

Safe.

At least for now.

The next morning, I met my lawyer downtown.

He placed a folder in front of me.

“This is everything we found.””

I opened it.

The first page showed a financial account connected to Lily’s name.

The second showed deposits.

The third showed withdrawals.

My hands shook.

“Who approved this?””

My lawyer looked at me carefully.

“That’s the problem.””

“What?””

“Your signature appears on the paperwork.””

I stared at him.

“My signature?””

“Yes.””

I pushed the papers away.

“I never signed this.””

“I know.””

That was when I realized.

Someone had been pretending to be me.

Someone who knew my personal information.

Someone close enough to access my documents.

When I returned home, Sarah was gone.

But her belongings were still there.

She wanted me to know she wasn’t running.

She wanted a fight.

Then I saw something on the kitchen counter.

A note.

“You think you won. You have no idea who you’re fighting.””

I crushed the paper.

Then I heard footsteps.

I turned.

Lily stood in the doorway.

“Daddy?””

I immediately softened.

“What happened?””

She held something in her hand.

A small flash drive.

“Grandma dropped this.””

I looked at it.

“Where?””

“In her room.””

My heart started beating faster.

I picked it up.

“Did you see what was on it?””

She shook her head.

“She told someone on the phone that nobody would ever find the truth.””

I looked at the flash drive.

Then at my daughter.

“Sweetheart, you did the right thing.””

That night, I opened the files.

There were videos.

Messages.

Documents.

At first, I saw evidence against Sarah.

Then I saw something that made me stop.

A conversation between Sarah and another person.

A person whose name appeared again and again.

Someone who had helped her move money.

Someone who had helped her forge documents.

Someone who had been inside my house.

I stared at the screen.

Because the person who betrayed us wasn’t a stranger.

It was someone I had trusted my entire life.

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