CHAPTER 5 — Building the Case
CHAPTER 5 — Building the Case
Three days later, there were five of us sitting around Emily's dining room table.
Emily.
Rachel.
Sophia.
Danielle.
And me.
Different careers.
Different cities.
Different years.
The same story.
Each woman had met Blake under different circumstances, but the pattern never changed.
He was charming.
Attentive.
Patient.
He learned everything about his target before introducing her to his family.
Mrs. Gable would play the loving mother.
Austin would pretend to be the hardworking cousin who had fallen on hard times.
Then came the requests.
Small loans.
Medical emergencies.
Business investments.
Co-signing "temporary" paperwork.
By the time the victim realized she was being manipulated, forged documents had already begun appearing.
Rachel slid a folder across the table.
"I hired a private investigator after I left."
Inside were photographs of Mrs. Gable visiting different banks with forged identification.
Sophia contributed emails from Austin discussing fake repayment schedules.
Danielle had something even more valuable.
Audio recordings.
One clip lasted only twenty-three seconds.
Mrs. Gable's voice was unmistakable.
"Never ask for everything at once. Make her think helping is her idea."
The room fell silent.
Emily looked at me.
"They've become careless."
I nodded.
"They think they've already won."
That was exactly what we needed.
Instead of leaving Blake, I stayed.
I cooked dinner.
I laughed at family jokes.
I even apologized again for "overreacting."
Mrs. Gable became sweeter by the day.
It made my skin crawl.
One evening she hugged me tightly.
"I knew you'd remember who your real family is."
I almost laughed.
If only she knew.
A week later, Austin arrived carrying another folder.
"This one's much simpler."
I glanced at the documents.
Not a loan.
A property investment.
He claimed he needed my signature to secure financing for a rental building.
Everything looked surprisingly legitimate.
Too legitimate.
I smiled.
"I'll look it over tonight."
His confidence returned.
Perfect.
The moment he left, I photographed every page and sent them to Rachel.
She responded fifteen minutes later.
"It's fake."
The property address belonged to an abandoned warehouse that had been demolished two years earlier.
The appraisal certificate was forged.
The lawyer listed on the documents had retired five years ago.
Every page was fraudulent.
Exactly what we needed.
The next morning, I deliberately left the folder on my desk before going to work.
Hidden inside the pen holder facing the paperwork was a tiny wireless camera Emily had purchased.
If anyone touched those documents while I was gone...
We would know.
That evening, I watched the footage.
At 2:17 p.m., Blake quietly entered my office.
He looked over his shoulder before opening the folder.
Then he removed a sheet of paper from his jacket.
My signature.
A perfect copy.
He carefully placed it on top of the investment documents.
Next, he practiced tracing my handwriting several times.
Finally, believing he was alone, he signed my name.
He had just committed forgery...
On camera.
I saved three separate copies of the video.
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Then uploaded them to cloud storage.
For the first time, I slept peacefully.
