Chapter 9 - The Meeting in the Park
Two hours after Sarah’s phone call, we arranged to meet in a quiet, secluded corner of a public park three towns away from both our families.
It was a crisp autumn afternoon, the ground blanketed in amber and crimson leaves. I sat on a wooden park bench overlooking a calm duck pond, wearing a trench coat and oversized sunglasses.
Footsteps crunched on the gravel behind me. I turned my head and saw Sarah walking toward me, looking nervous, her hands stuffed deep into the pockets of her jacket.
“Sarah,” I greeted softly, standing up to meet her.
Sarah stopped, her eyes wide and anxious. “Clara. Thank you for coming.”
“Thank you for having the courage to make that call,” I replied, gesturing for her to sit beside me on the bench. “Tell me everything you have.”
Sarah pulled a small, black USB flash drive from her coat pocket and handed it to me as if it were a fragile piece of glass.
“It’s all on there,” Sarah said, her voice shaking. “Audio recordings of Eleanor and Megan discussing how Jason was trapped, how Megan forced him to embezzle from your current company, and how they planned to frame you for the entire scheme if things ever went sideways with the federal audit.”
My stomach churned. They hadn't just been planning to let me take the blame; they had actively discussed pinning the entire multi-million dollar fraud on me from the very beginning.
“Did Jason know they planned to frame me?” I asked quietly.
Sarah looked down at her hands, shaking her head slowly. “I don’t think he knew the extent of it. He’s a coward, Clara. He’s terrified of Megan. She has held every secret he’s ever had over his head since they were teenagers.”
I slipped the USB drive into my leather purse, feeling an immense sense of validation washing over me. This wasn't just a divorce proceeding anymore. This was an airtight conspiracy case.
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“Sarah, if I hand this over to my attorney and federal investigators, you might be called to testify,” I warned her gently. “It could cause a massive fallout within your side of the family.”
Sarah looked up at me, her eyes steady and resolved. “Good. That family is rotten to the core. I’d rather stand on the right side of history than protect a bunch of crooks who treat human beings like disposable trash. Do whatever you need to do, Clara. Take them down.”
