Chapter 4 - The House of Cards
“Arrested?” Michael whispered.
His voice was barely audible.
“Yes,” I said coldly.
“For stealing Lily’s medication.”
“And for child endangerment.”
Michael stumbled backward, his back hitting the wall.
“That’s insane.”
“Evelyn is a respected woman.”
“They can’t just arrest her.”
“They found the missing EpiPen in her car, Michael.”
I watched his eyes dart toward the door.
He was calculating the distance.
He was wondering if he could run.
Detective Collins stepped smoothly into the doorway, blocking his exit.
She flashed her gold badge.
“Detective Sarah Collins, Mr. Hart.”
“I’m not with risk management.”
Michael swallowed hard.
His Adam’s apple bobbed in his throat.
“I don’t understand what’s happening here,” he said defensively.
“I think you understand perfectly,” Collins said.
She pulled the manila envelope from the bedside table.
She opened it and pulled out the legal documents.
“We found these in Evelyn’s briefcase.”
She held up the petition for custody.
She pointed directly at the bottom of the final page.
“That’s your signature, isn’t it, Michael?”
Michael refused to look at the paper.
“I don’t know what that is.”
“It’s a petition declaring your brother unfit to raise his child.”
“It’s a petition asking the court to give Evelyn control of the three-million-dollar trust.”
“And it’s a petition naming you as the permanent guardian.”
Michael shook his head frantically.
“I signed some tax documents for Evelyn last week.”
“She must have switched the pages.”
“She tricked me!”
It was a pathetic attempt at a lie.
“You’re a terrible liar, Mike,” I said, my voice thick with disgust.
“You lived under my roof.”
“You ate my food.”
“You kissed my daughter goodnight.”
“All while you were plotting to take her away from me.”
“Why?” I demanded, raising my voice for the first time.
“Why would you do this?”
Michael’s fake panic suddenly vanished.
His posture changed.
His shoulders dropped, and his eyes grew dark.
A bitter, ugly sneer twisted his lips.
“Because you always get everything, Daniel.”
The venom in his voice made me take a step back.
“You got the perfect wife.”
“You got the big house.”
“You got the perfect little family.”
He glared at Lily, who was still pretending to be asleep.
“And when Anna died, what did you get?”
“Three million dollars.”
“While I was drowning in gambling debt.”
“While I was begging loan sharks for another week to pay them back.”
I stared at him in complete shock.
“You did this for money?”
“I did it to survive!” Michael yelled.
“Evelyn promised to pay off my debts.”
“All I had to do was help her prove you were a bad father.”
“It was supposed to be easy.”
“I didn’t know she was going to poison the kid!”
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Detective Collins pulled out her handcuffs.
“Michael Hart, you are under arrest.”
