CHAPTER 6 — Hunter Turns Against His Mother
CHAPTER 6 — Hunter Turns Against His Mother
Hunter sat alone in an interrogation room.
A recorder clicked on.
Detective Alvarez placed several photographs on the table.
The forged insurance application.
Jamie's signature.
Mrs. Joyce's handwriting.
The basement notebook.
Then finally...
The security recording transcript.
Hunter stared at them in silence.
"You've already spoken to my mother?"
Detective Alvarez nodded.
"She blames everything on you."
Hunter laughed bitterly.
"Of course she does."
An hour earlier, Mrs. Joyce had given detectives a completely different version of events.
"Hunter handled all the paperwork."
"I trusted my son."
"He loved Jamie."
"I didn't know anything about insurance."
But investigators had compared her statement with the basement recordings.
The lies were obvious.
Detective Alvarez leaned forward.
"We've also spoken with your father."
Hunter looked up.
"My father?"
"He admitted he warned your mother to stop collecting information on Jamie before the wedding."
Hunter closed his eyes.
His father had known.
Not everything.
But enough.
The detective slid one final document across the table.
Hunter recognized it immediately.
A handwritten letter.
His own handwriting.
He had written it six months before the wedding.
It listed future financial goals.
Luxury SUV.
Beach house.
Business investment.
Next to each goal Mrs. Joyce had written:
Jamie pays.
Hunter felt physically ill.
He barely remembered writing the list as a joke.
His mother had turned it into a plan.
Meanwhile, Jamie received devastating news from Melissa.
"We found something else."
Jamie braced herself.
"What now?"
"The insurance company confirmed someone requested to increase your policy coverage."
"When?"
"Three days before the wedding."
"To how much?"
Melissa answered slowly.
"Ten million dollars."
Jamie's hands began to shake.
There was no longer any doubt.
This had never been just about money.
That evening prosecutors officially expanded the investigation.
Potential charges now included:
Domestic battery.
Identity theft.
Insurance fraud.
Conspiracy to commit financial fraud.
Attempted theft by deception.
Additional charges remained under review.
The Collins family attorney immediately advised everyone to remain silent.
Mrs. Joyce refused.
She scheduled a television interview instead.
"I've done nothing wrong," she declared.
"The Patterson family is destroying us because they're rich."
Unfortunately for her...
The interview aired only hours after investigators released authenticated portions of the basement recordings under court authorization.
Millions watched as Mrs. Joyce calmly discussed using Jamie's income before the marriage.
Public sympathy disappeared overnight.
Hunter finally asked to speak privately with Detective Alvarez.
"I want a deal."
The detective remained expressionless.
"What kind of deal?"
Hunter lowered his head.
"I'll tell you everything."
"I'll tell you who prepared the insurance documents."
"I'll tell you who forged Jamie's signature."
"I'll tell you every account my mother opened."
He looked up with tears in his eyes.
"But there's one thing you need to know first."
The detective pressed the record button again.
Hunter whispered,
"My mother didn't choose Jamie first."
He swallowed hard.
"There was... another woman."
The detective froze.
"What happened to her?"
Hunter's answer sent a chill through the room.
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"She disappeared... two weeks before I met Jamie."
To be continued...
