I rose abruptly, my mind already racing through every step.
“I am going to go find him right now.”
“No,” my father said, grabbing my hand again. “If you confront him now, he will just take the money and disappear before we can do anything.”
I froze, understanding at once that he was right.
If Kyle was minutes or hours away from receiving those three million dollars, one call from me would warn him, and he would vanish before anyone could stop him. A man capable of manipulating a scared old man with such a vicious lie was absolutely capable of running off with the money.
I took a slow, deep breath to steady myself.
“Dad, you need to listen to me very carefully. I am going to get your house back, but you have to do exactly what I tell you.”
He nodded, tears running down his cheeks.
“I will do whatever you say, my dear.”
“You are going to leave this house right now as if nothing has changed. Go to the airport, take a taxi back home, and do not tell anyone—not Susan, not Heather—that I have uncovered the truth. When Kyle comes back, I am going to act as if I have no idea what has happened.”
My father looked at me with deep worry in his eyes.
“And what are you going to do when he gets here?”
I looked at my reflection in the mirror, my eyes red and my face pale, but my determination felt harder than steel.
“I am going to let Kyle believe he is still winning.”
When we came out of the room, Susan and Heather were still pretending to watch television, though I could see them staring at us with nervous, predatory curiosity. I walked my father to the front door, called a taxi for him, and wrapped him in a long, steadying hug.
“Just trust me, Dad,” I whispered, and he climbed into the cab without once looking back at the house that had betrayed him.
After the car disappeared from view, I returned inside, and my mother-in-law instantly turned toward me with poisonous interest.
“Has your father already left? The poor man looked like he was completely shaken up.”
I faced her with a calm I had not known I could summon.
“Yes, he left. Now, we just have to wait for Kyle to come home.”
As they smiled, completely unaware of the trap I was already building, I knew exactly how I was going to take apart their entire lives.
