Chapter 6 - The Ambush
Grant couldn't wait for the legal process. His paranoia was eating him alive.
On a rainy Tuesday evening, while Michael was at the grocery store and the girls were doing homework upstairs, the doorbell rang. I checked the security camera on my phone. Grant stood on my porch, coatless, drenched in rain, pacing like a caged animal.
I unlocked the door but left the security chain on.
“What do you want, Grant?”
“Let me in, Lauren. We need to talk.” He slammed his hand against the doorframe. “Now.”
“You have sixty seconds to state your business before I call the police. You’re trespassing.”
“Drop the charges against Vanessa!” he yelled, spit flying from his lips. “You are ruining everything! Mom is a wreck, Dad is furious, and Vanessa is facing jail time over a stupid slap! You’re tearing this family apart because you’re a jealous, bitter—”
“I know about the Delaware shell companies, Grant,” I interrupted softly.
Grant froze. His mouth opened, but no sound came out. The rage drained from his face, replaced by absolute, naked terror.
“I know about the two million dollars you embezzled from Dad’s company,” I continued, my voice steady through the crack in the door. “And, more importantly, I know about the secondary mortgage you fraudulently co-signed in my name.”
He took a step back, stumbling slightly on the wet porch. “How... you can’t prove—”
“I have the transfer ledgers. I have the forged documents. The FBI handles wire fraud and identity theft, Grant. That’s federal time.”
“Lauren, please.” Suddenly, the golden boy was gone. He sounded like a frightened child. “You don’t understand. I got in deep with some bad investments. Dad cut my salary. I was trying to make it back. If you go to the cops with this, I’ll go to prison. I’ll lose Connor.”
“You should have thought about Connor before you let your wife physically assault his aunt and verbally abuse his cousins,” I said, feeling absolutely no pity.
“I’ll pay you back! I’ll get your name off the mortgage! Just... drop the assault charges. Please. If Vanessa goes down, they’ll start looking into our finances. The whole thing will unravel.”
“It’s already unraveled, Grant.”
I unhooked the chain and opened the door fully. He looked small standing there in the rain.
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“You have forty-eight hours to tell Dad what you did, and turn yourself in for the fraud. If you don't, I will hand the file to the feds myself. Get off my porch.”
I shut the door in his face and locked the deadbolt.
