Chapter 3 - The True EnemyI wiped away my tears and devoured every word on the paper.
If I had shown you sympathy tonight, Scott would have realized I was working against him. He would have searched my home, frozen my accounts, and taken away every resource I had left to protect you and Lily. I had to play the bitter mother-in-law to buy you time and get this bag into your hands without his suspicion.
Scott and Vanessa have been planning this for over a year. Scott didn't just fall in love with another woman, Diane—he made a deal with her father, Arthur Vance, to merge Carter Enterprises with Vance Logistics. But to do that, Scott needed to strip you of every asset and leave you penniless so you couldn't afford a real legal defense during the divorce.
My stomach churned as I read on.
He asked me to sign over family property deeds months ago to help him hide money. When I refused, he threatened to place me in a restrictive conservatorship and cut me off entirely. I realized then that my son had become a stranger driven by pure greed. I began secretly funneling my own savings and intercepting company financial records to save them for you.
Tomorrow morning at 8:00 AM, take the brass key to First Valley Bank downtown. Ask for Safe Deposit Box 417. What’s inside proves who really owns the company.
Do not trust your divorce attorney, Richard Vance. He is Arthur Vance's nephew. Scott set you up with him intentionally so every move you made would be reported back to him.
Scott thinks he threw you into the rain with nothing. Show him what a true mother will do to protect her child. I am with you, always.
With all my love,
Evelyn.
I sat in the quiet room for a long time, holding the letter against my chest as hot tears ran down my cheeks. Evelyn hadn't betrayed me—she had sacrificed her own relationship with her son to save my daughter and me.
May you like
I looked over at Lily, sleeping peacefully under the dim motel lamp. The grief and helplessness that had crushed me earlier vanished, replaced by an icy, unwavering determination.
Scott thought he had destroyed me. He had no idea his mother had just handed me the weapon to tear his world apart.
