Chapter 10 - The Mother-in-Law’s Move
At 1:00 PM, Evelyn Vance sat inside her opulent three-story townhouse in the gated community of Cinco Ranch.
She was sipping a mimosa on her back patio, admiring a glossy brochure for a luxury retirement condominium in West Palm Beach.
Her phone rang on the glass table—a call from the criminal holding facility at the Harris County Sheriff's Department.
"David?" Evelyn answered casually, taking a slow sip from her champagne flute.
"Did the contractor finish the pickup at the house? Did he secure the blue binder?"
"Mom... turn on the local news right now," David's trembling, broken voice echoed through the speaker.
"The police caught him. They caught him inside the house with the key you gave him."
Evelyn dropped her glass, watching it shatter into a hundred sharp pieces across the pristine travertine tiles.
"What did you just say?!" Evelyn shrieked, standing up so fast her chair tipped backward into the swimming pool.
"Hannah recorded us at the mall yesterday, Mom!" David sobbed into the receiver.
"She had hidden cameras in the office! She recorded everything! The deputies arrested me at my firm!"
"They know about the quitclaim deed, Mom! They know everything!"
Evelyn's breath hitched in her throat as she stared at the shattered glass on her patio floor.
"Listen to me, David, keep your mouth shut!" Evelyn hissed, her voice turning venomous with absolute desperation.
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"Don't say another word to the detectives! I'm calling our corporate legal team right now!"
She slammed her phone down, grabbed her leather designer tote bag, and ran toward her garage to flee the state.
