Part 2: My aunt wanted to adopt my little sister after our parents d*ed just to get her hands on the money — she had no idea I had one more card to play.

Ruiz didn’t answer.

But I heard the sound of her pen moving.

CHAPTER 5 — MY MOTHER LEFT A MESSAGE FROM THE GRAVE

Three days later, Mercer called me into his office.

He had barely closed the door when he said:

“We found the ledger.”

My knees weakened.

“Where?”

“Your mother’s cloud storage.”

I stared at him.

“She scanned it.”

“Every page.”

He turned his laptop around.

Rows of handwritten entries filled the screen.

Dates.

Amounts.

Account numbers.

Initials.

Transfers.

At first, none of it made sense.

Then Mercer pointed at a column.

H.P.

Howard Parker.

Payment after payment.

$25,000.

$40,000.

$70,000.

Some went back nearly ten years.

“What’s this?”

“Your grandparents owned several rental properties and a small manufacturing company.”

“I know.”

“Howard managed portions of both after marrying Denise.”

Mercer scrolled.

“Your father discovered discrepancies.”

“How much?”

He met my eyes.

“At least $1.8 million.“

I stopped breathing.

“Howard stole almost two million dollars?”