Chapter 5 - The Lie Melanie Built Around Wyatt
Melanie surrendered forty-eight hours later.
Not because she had suddenly developed a conscience.
Because her money stopped working.
Her cards were frozen during the investigation. Her parents had disappeared. She had spent a night at a hotel outside Dayton before realizing police already knew where she was.
She arrived at the station with an attorney.
Then she started blaming everyone.
Mostly me.
Detective Ruiz later summarized the interview.
Melanie claimed she had always loved Wyatt.
That was strange considering she barely noticed him before his company sale.
She insisted I had stolen him.
Even stranger considering Wyatt and I had been together long before she became interested.
But Melanie had repeated the story so many times that she appeared to believe it.
Brenda encouraged her.
Gregory financed her attempts to get near Wyatt.
Dinner reservations.
Gym memberships.
Invitations to business events.
It wasn’t spontaneous jealousy.
It was a campaign.
Melanie’s attorney eventually advised her to stop talking.
Too late.
Police recovered her messages.
One conversation with Brenda made my stomach turn.
MELANIE: He keeps choosing her.
BRENDA: Then we remove the reason he keeps choosing her.
Another message came from Gregory.
GREGORY: Dinner will settle everything.
Dinner.
Our wedding announcement dinner.
The day of the brick.
But the most disturbing message was sent by Melanie three hours before we arrived.
MELANIE: What if Wyatt sees what happens?
Brenda replied:
BRENDA: That’s the point.
My mother had wanted him to see.
The injury wasn’t simply punishment.
It was meant to change how Wyatt looked at me.
They believed beauty was the foundation of love because that was how they understood relationships.
Appearance.
Money.
Status.
Ownership.
They never understood Wyatt at all.
Police eventually located Gregory’s car outside a motel.
But Gregory and Brenda weren’t there.
Inside the room, investigators found burned papers in the bathroom sink.
Most were destroyed.
One fragment survived.
Arthur recognized Caroline’s handwriting.
Three words remained:
Sadie must inherit…
Enough to confirm the letters existed.
Not enough to reveal everything.
I was discharged from the hospital under police protection.
Wyatt wanted me to stay at his house.
I refused at first.
“I don’t want them controlling where I live.”
“This isn’t control.”
“I know.”
He waited.
Finally, I nodded.
“Okay.”
His house had never felt enormous before.
That night it did.
Every window seemed vulnerable.
Every sound made me turn.
At 2:13 a.m., I woke screaming.
Wyatt came running.
I was standing beside the bed, touching my face.
“I saw him.”
“Who?”
“My father.”
“It was a dream.”
“I know.”
Wyatt didn’t tell me to calm down.
He didn’t tell me everything was fine.
He simply sat on the floor beside the bed.
Eventually, I sat beside him.
“Are you afraid to marry me now?” I asked.
“Yes.”
The answer surprised me.
Then he continued.
“I’m afraid because somebody hurt you and I couldn’t stop it.”
“That isn’t what I meant.”
“I know.”
He turned toward me.
“But that’s the only thing I’m afraid of.”
We sat silently.
Then my phone vibrated.
Unknown number.
A photograph appeared.
My parents.
Brenda and Gregory stood beside a car somewhere rural.
Beneath it was a message.
STOP DIGGING INTO CAROLINE OR WYATT LOSES MORE THAN A WEDDING.
Wyatt read it.
His expression hardened.
I called Detective Ruiz.
Police traced the message.
Burner phone.
Unsurprising.
But the photograph contained something Gregory hadn’t noticed.
A reflection in the car window.
A sign.
Only part of it was visible.
Arthur recognized the logo.
An old storage company outside Columbus.
The same company where Caroline had once rented a unit.
Police arrived there before dawn.
Gregory and Brenda were already gone.
But Unit 214 remained locked.
Inside were boxes.
Photographs.
Financial documents.
Caroline’s belongings.
And one sealed envelope.
May you like
Written across the front in faded ink were four words:
For Sadie, when she’s ready.
