Chapter 9 - SIX YEARS OF LIESPatricia Ellison arrived carrying an old banker’s box.
She examined the six-year-old agreement.
"I didn't notarize this."
She opened her old journals.
The date on Charlotte's supposed notarization was there.
But no Charlotte.
No Brandon.
No property agreement.
Patricia's face changed.
"Someone used my stamp."
"Who?" Detective Morales asked.
Patricia hesitated.
"My daughter."
Her name was Melissa Pryce.
And Melissa had once been connected to a company where Brandon worked.
Investigators found her.
She admitted helping create false paperwork years earlier.
She claimed Brandon asked for documents that would "protect him financially."
Then Dana discovered something buried in an old computer backup.
An email between Brandon and Gertrude.
Melissa says she can make the marital agreement look legitimate, but I need Charlotte's old signature samples.
Gertrude's response:
Get them from the mortgage file. Do this now.
Charlotte stopped reading.
Her hands shook.
Six years.
The betrayal was older than Skylar's elementary school.
Older than vacations.
Older than half the family photographs.
Then Brandon called.
"I was scared."
"Of what?"
"Losing everything."
"You didn't own it."
"We were married."
"So you forged my name?"
"The agreement was insurance."
"Against me?"
"Against divorce."
Charlotte closed her eyes.
Then he said:
"You have no idea what it's like being married to someone who doesn't need you."
Charlotte answered softly.
"You're right."
Silence.
"I don't know what it's like being married to someone who doesn't need me."
She paused.
"But I know what it's like being married to someone who resents me for not being helpless."
She hung up.
The next day, investigators searched a storage unit connected to Hailey's company.
They found:
Blank ID materials.
Laminating machines.
Financial records.
Contractor samples.
And a folder.
PLAN B — CHARLOTTE
Inside was a timeline.
Closing.
Construction draw.
Trust transfer.
Refinance.
Then:
B FILES AFTER STABILIZATION.
Andrea stared at it.
"Divorce."
Charlotte felt cold.
They hadn't been afraid she might leave Brandon.
May you like
They had been preparing to leave her.
After taking control of her money.
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