Chapter 3 - THE SISTER WHO WANTED EVERYTHING
The bank statement arrived the next morning. Wyatt had contacted his financial security team before leaving the hospital.
Someone had attempted to access one of his private accounts.
The attempt had been blocked.
The location?
My parents' house.
I stared at the screen.
“Could it have been a mistake?”
Wyatt shook his head.
“No.”
“How do you know?”
“Because whoever tried to access it used a password combination connected to your family.”
My stomach twisted.
“What password?”
Wyatt hesitated.
“Your birthday.”
I closed my eyes.
My family had known it for decades.
The security team had recovered the IP address.
The login attempt came from a laptop registered to my father.
Wyatt sat across from me.
“This wasn't Melanie trying to guess a password.”
“What are you saying?”
“Someone was looking for a way into my finances.”
I thought about my father's sudden interest in Wyatt after the company sale.
The expensive dinners.
The questions about investments.
The casual comments about “family businesses.”
At the time, I had assumed he was proud of me.
Now I felt sick.
Wyatt hired a forensic accountant named Laura Bennett.
She was direct, calm, and terrifyingly thorough.
Within forty-eight hours, she had uncovered a pattern.
My father had contacted one of Wyatt's former business partners three months earlier.
He had asked questions about Wyatt's assets.
His companies.
His investments.
His personal accounts.
“Why would he do that?” I asked.
Laura looked at me.
“Because someone wanted to know how much money your fiancé actually has.”
I stared at the report.
Then Melanie's name appeared.
She had contacted Wyatt's former business partner too.
Only once.
But the message was enough.
Wyatt will eventually understand that Sadie is not good enough for him.
My hands began to tremble.
The next discovery was worse.
Melanie had created multiple phone numbers.
She had contacted Wyatt from six different accounts after he blocked her.
Some messages were emotional.
Some were angry.
Some were threatening.
One message said:
You can't hide from me forever.
Another said:
Sadie won't be able to protect you from your own family.
Wyatt had saved everything.
“Why didn't you tell me?” I asked.
“I tried.”
“When?”
“The first time she showed up at my office.”
I remembered that day.
I had accused Wyatt of being cold toward Melanie.
He had told me nothing was happening.
I had believed him.
Meanwhile, Melanie had been telling my parents that I was controlling him.
That I had isolated him.
That I was using him for money.
The irony nearly made me laugh.
My father had been the one trying to get access to Wyatt's accounts.
That afternoon, Detective Harris called.
They had obtained the electrician's statement.
The electrician had heard Gregory say:
“You're marrying Melanie or you're out of this family.”
The delivery driver had heard Brenda laughing.
The teenager's video showed Gregory holding the brick before the attack.
My father was losing control of the story.
So he changed tactics.
He called me.
I answered despite Wyatt's warning.
“Sadie,” Gregory said.
His voice sounded tired.
Not sorry.
Tired.
“You've made this worse than it needed to be.”
I stared at the wall.
“You hit me with a brick.”
“You were being difficult.”
My blood went cold.
“You tried to force Wyatt to marry Melanie.”
“That was a family matter.”
“You tried to access his accounts.”
Silence.
Then he said:
“You don't know what you're talking about.”
“I know enough.”
His voice changed.
“Your grandfather would be ashamed of you.”
I laughed.
That made him furious.
“You think Wyatt will stay with you after this?”
“He already has.”
“You'll destroy everything.”
“Maybe it deserves to be destroyed.”
He hung up.
Ten minutes later, Laura sent another report.
This time, it contained information about my parents' finances.
Their house was heavily mortgaged.
The lake property had been used as collateral.
Several business accounts were nearly empty.
They were in debt.
Deep debt.
And the timing of their financial collapse matched the moment Wyatt sold his company.
I looked at Wyatt.
“They weren't trying to make Melanie marry you because they loved her.”
“No.”
“They needed your money.”
Wyatt nodded.
But there was one more problem.
Laura had discovered a transfer.
A large amount of money had been moved from an account connected to my grandfather's estate.
The transfer had occurred years earlier.
The recipient?
May you like
My father.
And the authorization had been signed by someone who was supposed to be dead.
