We found the doctor that afternoon.

She initially denied everything.

But the lawyer had already obtained financial records.

Marcus had been transferring money into an account under her name.

Thousands of dollars.

Every month.

The doctor finally broke down.

“I didn’t know he was going to hurt her.”

“What did he pay you to do?” I asked.

She covered her face.

“He told me to delay her treatment.”

“Why?”

“He said Elena knew about the financial accounts.”

I looked at my wife.

“What did you know?”

Elena pulled out another envelope.

“I found this hidden behind your mother’s safe.”

Inside were photographs.

Bank accounts.

Property records.

And a list of every person who had received money from my family.

At the bottom was one name.

Margaret Carter.

My mother.

The total amount was staggering.

Nearly $300,000.

My money.

My benefits.

My savings.

All gone.

But then we discovered something even worse.

The beautiful house I thought I had paid for wasn’t actually owned by my mother.

It was owned by a company.

And the company’s sole beneficiary was Marcus.

They had been preparing to take everything from me.

My mother finally confessed.

“Marcus told me Elena would eventually leave you.”

“So you helped him steal from me?”

“I thought I was protecting my son.”

I shook my head.

“You weren’t protecting him. You were destroying him.”

The police arrested Marcus that evening.

My mother was taken in for questioning.

The doctor agreed to testify.

For the first time in years, Elena was safe.

But our story wasn’t over.

Three days later, my lawyer called.

“Daniel, we found something in the financial records.”

“What?”

“There was another account.”

“Whose?”

He paused.

“Yours.”

I frowned.

“I don’t have another account.”

“You do.”

He sent me the statement.

The account had been opened four years earlier.

The same month I deployed overseas.

And someone had been depositing money into it every month.

I stared at the name attached to the account.

It wasn’t mine.

It belonged to Elena.

My wife looked at me in shock.

“I never opened that.”

Then we saw the first deposit.

It was from my mother.

And the amount was exactly the same as the money I had sent home.

Someone had secretly been returning part of my money to Elena.

But who?

NEXT PART