Chapter 6 - The Broken Alliance
Three weeks before the trial, my father did something he hadn't done in ten years: he called my personal phone.
"Hannah," his voice sounded old, hollowed out by the scandal that had completely ruined his standing in the local business community. "Your mother has left the state. She... she couldn't handle the shame. She took a flight to Florida and checked into a clinic."
I sat on the porch swing of my house, watching the wind move through the maple trees. "And why are you calling me, Dad?"
"I found a safety deposit box key in her dresser," he whispered, a long, heavy pause over the line. "I went to the bank this morning. Hannah... Diane wasn't working alone. Your mother had given her five thousand dollars last month to pay for the high-end defense attorney before Gracie even passed away. They were planning the custody battle together."
The betrayal didn't even surprise me anymore. It was just another layer of mud on a grave.
"Are you going to protect them, Dad?" I asked, my voice flat.
"No," he said, and I could hear the sound of tears in his throat. "I’m handing the bank documents over to the prosecutor tomorrow. I lost one daughter to murder, and I lost the other to evil. I don't want to lose my grandson too. I'm sorry, Hannah. I should have looked closer at what was happening in my own house."
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"Thank you for the documents, Dad," I said softly. "But apology doesn't bring Gracie back. Don't call this number again."
I hung up the phone. The family alliance was entirely broken, shattered by the weight of their own greed and vanity. Diane was truly alone now, sitting in her orange jumpsuit, waiting for the hammer to fall.
