Chapter 4 - THE VOICE ON THE RECORDING
The police reached our house before the person in the garage could
leave. They found the side door unlocked and the office drawers open.
Nothing had been taken from the living room or bedrooms. Only Ryan’s
desk had been disturbed.
The officers photographed the room and found a small metal safe hidden
behind a filing cabinet. It was open and empty.
Grace asked whether I knew what Ryan kept there.
I remembered a black notebook he carried to work. He had once told me it
contained private project accounts.
“Could that be what he was looking for?” I asked.
“Possibly,” Grace said. “Did you ever see him take it home?”
“Every few weeks.”
Ellie, who had woken up, was listening from the sofa.
“Mom, I saw the notebook.”
I turned toward her. “Where?”
“In the garage. Daddy put it under the spare tire.”
Daniel exchanged a look with Adrian.
The police searched the garage again. Beneath the trunk liner of Ryan’s
old sedan, they found the notebook wrapped in a plastic bag.
Inside were account numbers, dates, and handwritten notes. Some payments
matched the transfers from the Castellano escrow account. Others were
marked with initials.
One set appeared repeatedly: P.M.
“Who is P.M.?” Adrian asked.
Daniel checked the construction records. “Peter Mason. He was the
project accountant.”
“He left six months ago,” Adrian said.
Grace warned everyone not to jump to conclusions. The notebook was
evidence, not proof of who had committed each act.
Then Ellie spoke again.
“I recorded Daddy because he was yelling. I didn’t want him to know I
heard.”
She held out her phone.
The recording began with a door closing. Ryan’s voice followed.
“After midnight, she’ll have nowhere to go. The bank will have the
house, the company will have the money, and everyone will believe she
ran.”
A second voice answered, “What about the girl?”
“She’s coming with me. Isabella thinks she’ll be her stepmother. Once
the papers are filed, Melissa won’t be able to stop it.”
The other voice asked, “And if she shows up?”
“Then we use the missing money. She’ll look like the thief.”
The recording continued.
“Isabella won’t ask questions,” Ryan said. “She’s too busy trying to
save her mother’s reputation. By the time she understands, the wedding
will be over.”
The second voice laughed. “Make sure the transfer clears.”
Then the recording ended.
Grace replayed the final seconds. “Can you identify the second speaker?”
I listened again. The voice sounded familiar, but I couldn’t place it.
Adrian took the phone carefully. “I know that voice.”
Daniel looked at him. “Who?”
“Peter Mason.”
The accountant who had left the project six months earlier. The man who
had helped Ryan redirect the money.
Adrian called the police supervisor and gave him the recording. Within
minutes, officers were sent to Mason’s registered address.
Ryan had not been acting alone.
And the man helping him was someone who knew exactly how the Castellano
accounts worked. CHAPTER 5 — THE GROOM’S LAST MOVE
At 11:37 p.m., Ryan asked to speak with Isabella.
Grace objected, but Isabella insisted on hearing him. She needed to
understand how much of her life had been built on lies. The meeting took
place in a small conference room with the door open and security
outside.
Ryan looked at her with the expression he had used throughout their
relationship: patient, wounded, and quietly accusing.
“Isabella, you know I love you.”
She stared at him. “You lied about being divorced.”
“I was going to tell you.”
“When? After the wedding? After you moved into my brother’s house?”
“I needed time.”
“You told me Melissa abandoned Ellie.”
“She was unhappy. She wanted to leave.”
“Then why did she make breakfast for Ellie that morning?”
Ryan’s eyes flickered.
Isabella continued. “Why did Ellie say you told her not to tell her
mother about the papers?”
“She’s a child. She misunderstood.”
“No,” Isabella said. “I misunderstood. I believed you.”
Ryan leaned forward. “You signed the Northstar papers. Your name is on
the company. If this goes to the police, you’ll be investigated too.”
Isabella went pale.
“I didn’t know what I was signing.”
“Try proving that.”
She looked toward the open door. Adrian stood beyond it, listening.
Ryan lowered his voice. “You can still help me. Tell them Melissa knew
about the transfer. Say she agreed to sell the house. We can all walk
away.”
Isabella’s face changed. “You want me to lie about her.”
“I want you to protect yourself.”
“No. You want me to become you.”
Ryan’s expression hardened. “You think your brother will protect you
when he finds out you helped me?”
Adrian stepped into the room.
“My sister will answer for whatever she signed. You will answer for what
you did.”
Ryan stood abruptly. “You can’t keep me here.”
“No one is keeping you here,” Adrian replied. “The police are.”
Two officers entered. They informed Ryan that he was being detained for
questioning in connection with suspected fraud, forgery, and the
attempted transfer of funds. They also told him the evidence would be
referred to prosecutors.
Ryan looked at me as they escorted him away.
“Melissa! Tell them you know I would never hurt Ellie!”
I didn’t move.
“You know me!” he shouted.
I looked at the man who had kissed my forehead that morning, then lied
to his daughter, forged my name, and tried to make our home disappear.
“I thought I did,” I said.
The officers led him out.
The clock above the ballroom entrance read 11:52 p.m. Seven minutes
remained until the deadline he had built his plan around.
But the transfer was frozen. The house was protected by an emergency
legal notice. Ellie was safe.
May you like
For the first time in sixteen years, Ryan no longer controlled what
happened next.
