Chapter 4 - The Man Calling
Nobody moved.
Martin’s name glowed on Lauren’s phone like a confession.
“Answer it,” Jared said.
Lauren picked up the phone but did not unlock it. “No.”
Oscar’s voice stayed calm. “That’s your right.”
Lauren looked surprised.
Oscar continued, “And it’s Jared’s right to freeze every account you can touch.”
Jared immediately opened his banking app.
“Jared, don’t be ridiculous.”
“You told me almost three hundred thousand dollars went to my father.”
“It did go toward him.”
“Through a company connected to a man calling you right now?”
Lauren’s phone stopped ringing.
A second later, a message appeared on the lock screen.
CALL ME NOW. HE KNOWS.
Jared read it aloud.
Lauren’s face went pale.
Oscar set down his pen.
“Now we’re getting somewhere.”
Lauren snatched the phone against her chest. “You don’t understand.”
“Then explain it,” Jared said.
She looked from husband to father-in-law, calculating.
Finally she lowered her voice.
“My mother got into financial trouble years ago. Martin helped her restructure debt. When your father needed support, I asked Martin to build a system that would keep everything private.”
Oscar frowned. “Private from whom?”
“From people who might take advantage of you.”
Oscar stared at her. “I spent four decades finding people who took advantage of others.”
“I was trying to protect you.”
“By hiding the money from me?”
Lauren’s composure cracked. “You were grieving. You were stubborn. Jared was working eighty-hour weeks. Somebody had to manage things.”
Jared shook his head. “You never managed anything here.”
Lauren said nothing.
He froze access to the joint savings account, then changed the password.
Her eyes hardened.
“You have no idea what you just did.”
Jared looked up. “What did I do?”
Lauren’s answer was nearly a whisper.
“You may have triggered a default.”
Oscar’s pen stopped.
“On what?”
Lauren closed her eyes.
Before she could answer, Oscar’s old landline rang from the living room.
He almost never received calls there.
Oscar picked it up.
May you like
A man said, “Mr. Blake? My name is Martin Vale. Your daughter-in-law has put you in serious danger.”
Then the line went dead.
