Chapter 5 - Then I’m Out
Mia spent the next three days preparing for Sunday dinner.
Nora installed a recording application on her phone and arranged for an investigator to remain nearby. Mia froze two bank accounts, secured her credit files, and reported the missing documents.
She also requested archived security footage from her apartment building.
The building manager found Kyle entering with Mia’s spare key during her trip.
He arrived carrying nothing.
He left forty minutes later with a black document case.
Mia saved the footage in three locations.
On Sunday, she walked into Kyle’s house with no cake and no groceries.
Brianna was waiting in the living room.
She wore the same blue top and green pants from the previous week, as if she wanted to repeat the confrontation under conditions she controlled.
Kyle stood near the fireplace.
Lorraine and Dean sat together on the sofa. Four cousins occupied the chairs along the wall.
Mia remained near the front door.
“Where is my social security card?”
Kyle gestured toward the dining table.
“Sit.”
“No.”
“This is a family meeting.”
“Then the family can answer while I stand.”
Brianna lifted a new copy of the vehicle statement.
“You missed the payment.”
“I never agreed to make it.”
“The account is already late.”
“That is your problem.”
Brianna crossed the room and shoved the statement toward Mia.
“Pay every month, or you’re out of this family.”
Mia looked at the paper.
Her name appeared beneath Brianna’s.
Someone had copied Mia’s signature onto the guarantor line.
The imitation was good.
But not perfect.
Mia calmly placed her plate on the side table. Lorraine had insisted she take food when she entered, apparently believing a plate in her hands would make her easier to control.
Mia stood straight.
“Then I’m out.”
The reaction was immediate.
Lorraine gasped as though Mia had struck her.
Dean cursed.
The cousins began speaking over one another.
Kyle moved toward the door.
“You don’t get to make that decision.”
“I just did.”
Mia turned to leave.
Brianna grabbed her upper arm.
“Sit down.”
Mia tried to pull away.
Brianna tightened her grip.
“You don’t walk away after everything we did for you.”
The relatives shouted, but none of them told Brianna to release her.
Kyle pointed at Mia.
“You don’t walk away from us.”
Mia’s phone rang.
Adrian Bell.
She answered and activated the speaker.
“Ms. Mia, we’ve discovered a serious problem with Brianna’s SUV loan.”
Every voice stopped.
Brianna released Mia’s arm.
Adrian continued.
“The application used your income, your identification, and a signature belonging to Evelyn Mercer.”
Lorraine dropped her glass.
The sound of breaking glass seemed to awaken the room.
Kyle reached for the phone.
“End the call.”
Mia stepped back.
Adrian asked whether she was currently with Brianna and Kyle.
“Yes,” Mia said.
“Do not leave alone. Our fraud department contacted the authorities after reviewing the second application.”
“What second application?”
Before Adrian answered, three knocks sounded at the front door.
The investigator Nora had hired was not supposed to knock.
Mia looked through the glass panel.
Two police officers stood outside with a woman from the dealership’s compliance department.
Kyle moved first.
He ran toward the hallway.
Brianna rushed toward the kitchen.
The officers entered before either escaped.
The compliance officer carried an evidence bag containing a silver bracelet recovered from an office at the dealership.
A folded piece of paper rested beneath its clasp.
Mia is still alive.
For one impossible second, Mia wondered whether the note referred to her.
Then she saw the handwriting.
It matched the message on the back of the family photograph.
Her mother’s handwriting.
The officers separated everyone.
Brianna screamed that Mia had arranged the entire scene to humiliate her.
Kyle insisted he was only helping a relative obtain transportation.
Lorraine claimed she felt faint.
Dean remained silent.
An officer asked Mia to step outside.
On the porch, Nora was waiting beside her car.
“You ignored my advice,” Nora said.
“I know.”
“Are you injured?”
“No.”
“Did Brianna grab you?”
“Yes.”
“Was it recorded?”
Mia checked her phone.
The recording had captured everything.
Nora nodded toward the evidence bag.
“Do you know the bracelet?”
“It belonged to my mother.”
“Could someone else have kept it?”
“Lorraine said it was buried in the casket.”
Nora looked through the open doorway.
Inside, an officer was questioning Lorraine.
“Then Lorraine knew exactly where it should have been.”
A second police vehicle arrived.
Kyle was led outside in handcuffs after officers found Mia’s social security card in his wallet.
Brianna followed, shouting that the car belonged to her and no one had the right to take it.
As she passed Mia, she leaned close.
“You have no idea what you’ve done.”
Mia held her gaze.
“You’re right. That’s why I’m going to find out.”
Brianna’s anger vanished.
“You should stop looking for Evelyn.”
The officer pulled her forward.
Mia called after her.
“Why?”
May you like
Brianna turned her head.
“Because she wasn’t the one who died in that car.”
