Chapter 9
I froze.
The figure stepped into the light.
It was Sarah.
She looked at me, her face pale. Her eyes fell on the folder in my hand.
"So," she said. Her voice was quiet. Broken. "You know."
I stared at her. All the pity I'd felt earlier was gone. Replaced by pure, burning rage.
"You planned everything," I said. My voice was low. Dangerous.
She didn't deny it.
She just stood there, tears rolling down her cheeks.
"I had to," she whispered.
"Had to?" I stepped toward her. "You had to abuse our son? You had to frame me? You had to hire someone to kill me?"
She flinched at each word.
"I was desperate," she said. "I owed money. A lot of money. To dangerous people. They were going to kill me. To kill Ethan."
"So you decided to kill me instead?"
"The insurance money," she said. "It was the only way. I could pay off my debts. Start over. Give Ethan a better life."
"A better life?" I laughed bitterly. "By letting Richard beat him? By framing his father? By having me killed?"
"I didn't want it to be like this," she said. "But I had no choice."
"You always have a choice," I said. "And you chose to be a monster."
She looked at me, and for the first time, I saw something real in her eyes.
Remorse.
Genuine, heartfelt remorse.
"I'm sorry, David," she said. "I'm so sorry. For everything. I know I can never make it right. But I can try."
She reached into her bag and pulled out another folder.
"This is everything," she said. "All the proof you need. Against me. Against Richard. Against the people I owed money to. It's all here."
She held it out to me.
"Take it," she said. "Use it. Put me away. I deserve it. Just... just promise me you'll take care of Ethan. Tell him I loved him. Even if I didn't act like it."
I stared at the folder in her hand.
Then I looked at her face.
She looked broken. Defeated.
Was this real?
Or was it another trap?
"Why are you doing this?" I said.
"Because I saw you with him today," she said. "At the park. You were so happy. So good with him. And I realized... I'll never be that mother. I'll never be able to give him what he needs. What he deserves."
She wiped away tears.
"Richard was right about one thing," she said. "I'm not a good person. I never have been. But Ethan... he deserves to be happy. And he deserves to be with you."
She pushed the folder into my hand.
"Take it," she said. "And let me disappear. I'll leave town. I'll never bother you again. You'll never have to see me again."
I looked at the folder in my hand. Then at her.
"What about the people you owe money to?" I said. "Vincent said they're dangerous."
"They are," she said. "But I'll handle it. One way or another."
Before I could say anything else, we heard a sound.
Sirens.
Lots of sirens.
They were getting closer.
Sarah's eyes went wide.
"Did you call the police?" she said.
"No," I said.
Then I realized.
Harold's PI.
He must have seen something. Called the police.
"We have to go," Sarah said. "If they find me here with these documents—"
"Too late," a voice said.
We both turned.
Vincent stood in the doorway, flanked by two police officers.
And behind them, being led in cuffs, was Harold's PI.
"You shouldn't have come alone, David," Vincent said. He smiled. That same cold smile.
"What is this?" I said.
"This," Vincent said, "is the end of the line for both of you."
He nodded at the officers.
"Arrest them," he said. "Both of them. For conspiracy to commit murder. And for child abuse."
The officers moved forward.
"Wait," Sarah said. "This isn't what it looks like. I have proof—"
"Save it," Vincent said. "I have proof too. Proof that you two were working together. To kill Richard and frame me for it."
He held up his own folder.
"Forged documents," he said. "Emails. Text messages. All very convincing."
He looked at me.
"You should have paid me, David," he said. "Now you get nothing. And you both go to prison."
The officers cuffed us.
Sarah was crying. She kept saying she was sorry.
I was numb.
I'd been played.
By Sarah. By Richard. By Vincent.
By everyone.
As they led us out of the warehouse, I looked up at the night sky.
I thought of Ethan.
Alone at my apartment.
Wondering where I was.
And I knew.
I had to get out of this.
I had to get back to him.
No matter what.
As they put me in the back of the police car, I saw something that made my blood run cold.
Vincent was talking on his phone.
And he was smiling.
And I knew.
He wasn't working alone.
There was someone else.
Someone higher up.
May you like
Someone even more dangerous.
And they were coming for Ethan.
