Chapter 4 - Unraveling the Web
Julian tried to recover his composure, forcing a nervous chuckle. "Arthur, I know this looks bad, but I swear it was an accident. We were arguing, and she tripped—"
"Shut up," I said. It was the first time I had ever interrupted him, the first time I had ever raised my voice to him in front of his mother. Both of them stared at me in shock.
I walked over to the dining table and picked up the thick manila folder. I opened it and pulled out a single sheet of paper, handing it to Eleanor.
"What is this?" she demanded, refusing to look at it.
"That," I said coldly, "is a printout of the secret line of credit Julian opened in my name three months ago. The same line of credit he used to pay off the $40,000 in gambling debts he neglected to mention before we got married."
Julian lunged forward. "Give me that!"
My father casually moved his cane, blocking Julian's path with a sickeningly hard strike to Julian's shin. Julian yelped and stumbled back.
"I'm not finished," I continued, pulling out another stack of papers. "This is the deed transfer you drafted, Eleanor. The one you’ve been pressuring me to sign. And these are the transcripts of the phone calls between the two of you, discussing how you could declare me mentally unfit if I refused to hand over my assets so you could pay off your underwater mortgage."
Eleanor’s face went chalk white. "You... you were recording us? That's illegal! You're insane!"
"I'm a forensic accountant," I reminded her, a grim smile touching my un-split lip. "The security cameras Julian installed to monitor me? He didn't realize they were cloud-connected, or that the microphone caught every word you two whispered in the kitchen. As for legality, when it documents a conspiracy to commit fraud and extortion, the authorities are quite forgiving."
Julian was panicking now. The suave, controlling mask had completely shattered, leaving a terrified, pathetic boy in its place. "Audrey, please. We can talk about this. You're my wife. You promised for better or for worse."
"You lost the right to invoke those vows the moment you put your hands on me," I said, pointing to my bruised face. "I have pictures of every mark you've left on me for the past year. I have the audio from this morning when you beat me for refusing to move into your mother's house. I have everything, Julian."
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My father stepped forward, pulling his cell phone from his pocket. "Fifteen minutes ago, I forwarded this entire dossier to a contact of mine at the FBI's financial crimes division, and another copy to the local precinct. In fact, if my timing is correct..."
Right on cue, the sound of heavy tires crunching on the gravel driveway broke the tension in the room. Flashing red and blue lights reflected through the living room windows, casting eerie, rotating shadows across Julian and Eleanor's terrified faces.
