Ethan was silent for a moment on the line. “Does Vance know who you are?”
“No.”
“Good,” he said. “Keep it that way.”
My mother filed for divorce on a Monday morning. By noon, Garrick had emptied their joint account and told the neighbors she was mentally unstable. By evening, he sent me a text message:
Tell your mother to withdraw the papers. Family problems should stay private.
I replied with one sentence:
Do not contact her again.
He called immediately, laughing harshly down the line. “You think you scare me?”
“No,” I said calmly. “I think you underestimate me.”
He hung up after promising I would deeply regret interfering. I stared at the dark phone screen and felt something inside me become perfectly still. Garrick believed he had frightened two defenseless women.
He had absolutely no idea we had already begun building the case that would end him.
Part 2: The Bait
Garrick became increasingly reckless after the divorce filing. He parked outside my mother’s temporary apartment, followed her to work, and sent photographs of her car with messages like, I can reach you anytime.
