Chapter 9 - The Lie My Sister Finally Stopped Defending“IF I TELL THE POLICE EVERYTHING, LAUREN, I MIGHT GO TO JAIL. BUT IF I KEEP LYING, YOU COULD LOSE YOUR JOB FOR SOMETHING I HELPED MAKE POSSIBLE.”
Tessa said those words on a Sunday morning.
We were sitting on Dad's back deck, the same place he'd proudly repaired before the disastrous family dinner.
The wooden railing still smelled faintly of fresh paint.
A pair of cardinals hopped along the fence.
For a few minutes, it almost felt like an ordinary weekend.
Except nothing about our lives was ordinary anymore.
Tessa wore an oversized sweatshirt and jeans.
Her hair was tied back.
Her phone sat inside her purse.
She hadn't checked it once since we sat down.
“I talked to Daniel,” she said.
“Your attorney?”
She nodded.
“He explained what could happen.”
I waited.
“He thinks I may face charges for accessing your computer and sharing information I had no right to share.”
I didn't know what to say.
For years, Dad had protected her from consequences.
Now the consequences were too serious for anyone to dismiss.
Tessa stared toward the backyard.
“I keep thinking about the video.”
“What about it?”
“I remember how happy I was when the views started climbing.”
Her voice trembled.
“People were laughing at you, and I felt like I'd finally won something.”
I looked down at my hands.
“Won what?”
She was silent for a long moment.
“Proof that I mattered more than you.”
The answer hurt.
Not because it surprised me.
Because it was honest.
I looked at her.
“Tessa, I never knew we were competing.”
She laughed bitterly.
“You didn't have to compete. You were always the responsible one.”
“That's not the same as being loved more.”
“I know that now.”
I waited.
She continued.
“Mom used to call you her steady girl. Remember?”
I nodded.
“She said you could handle anything.”
“Sometimes.”
“When she died, everybody worried about me. People bought me things and checked on me constantly.”
Her eyes filled.
“But you were the one filling out paperwork, helping Dad, and making sure we ate dinner.”
I remembered those months too clearly.
Hospital bills.
Insurance forms.
A house filled with flowers that slowly wilted.
A father who couldn't sleep.
A sixteen-year-old sister who cried behind her locked bedroom door.
And me, at twenty-two, trying to become the person our family needed.
“I thought being responsible was what I was supposed to do,” I said.
Tessa looked at me.
“I used to hate you for making it look easy.”
I swallowed.
“It wasn't easy.”
“I know.”
A breeze moved through the trees.
Then she said something I'd waited years to hear.
“I was cruel to you because I wanted people to think I was better than you.”
I looked away.
“I know.”
“I don't expect you to forgive me.”
“Good,” I said quietly. “Because I'm not ready.”
She nodded.
For the first time, she didn't argue.
Instead, she reached into her purse and removed a folded piece of paper.
“Daniel helped me write down everything I remember about Mason.”
I stared at it.
She didn't hand it to me.
“He's giving the original to Detective Serrano. I just wanted you to know I'm not hiding anything anymore.”
“What did you remember?”
Tessa swallowed.
“That I sent Mason more information than I originally admitted.”
My chest tightened.
“Like what?”
“A copy of your company calendar. Screenshots from Dad's house. The financing agreement.”
She hesitated.
“And a photograph of your employee identification card.”
I closed my eyes.
The employee identification number from my company portal.
The one internet strangers had noticed in the video.
The one security investigators were now examining.
“You photographed my badge?”
“It was on the kitchen counter one afternoon.”
“Why?”
“Mason said he needed to confirm your employee number.”
I breathed slowly.
There was no point pretending that explanation made sense.
But I needed her to finish.
“Anything else?”
She nodded.
“He asked me to confirm the spelling of your middle name.”
“Michelle.”
“I told him.”
“And?”
“He asked when your mother died.”
I looked sharply at her.
“What?”
“He said it was related to a family financial profile.”
I stared at her.
The question was so personal that I could barely understand why anyone would ask it.
“Why would a business investor need to know when Mom died?”
Tessa wiped her eyes.
“I didn't question it.”
I looked toward the yard.
Mom's rosebush still grew beside the fence.
Every spring, it produced deep pink flowers.
Dad had planted it the year after she died.
I felt suddenly furious that someone had used even her memory as another piece of financial information.
Tessa spoke again.
“Lauren, I'm going to tell the investigators everything. Even the parts that make me look terrible.”
I studied her.
“Then do it because it's right. Not because you think it'll make me forgive you.”
She nodded.
“I will.”
That afternoon, Detective Serrano contacted Rachel.
Investigators had recovered additional communications suggesting Mason Kline had used Tessa's information to build a false financial profile around me.
The records included my workplace, employee identification number, personal details, and documents containing copied signatures.
But investigators were also examining whether an employee inside Ellison had supplied information that Tessa couldn't possibly have obtained.
“Graham Mercer?” I asked Rachel.
“He's one of the people whose access is being reviewed.”
“Do they know whether he's involved?”
“Not enough to make that conclusion publicly.”
I sat down.
“What happens next?”
“Apparently, Mason contacted Tessa again.”
My stomach tightened.
“What did he want?”
“He offered to meet her and explain everything.”
I stared at the wall.
“After threatening our family?”
“Yes.”
“She's not going, is she?”
“Her attorney and the detective are discussing how to handle the contact safely.”
I closed my eyes.
For months, Mason had controlled my sister by offering her admiration, money, and a glamorous future.
Now that she was cooperating with investigators, he was trying to regain control.
But the detective had another reason to take the proposed meeting seriously.
Mason claimed that he could provide documents proving Lauren Bell had authorized the financial transactions.
Documents he'd apparently prepared to use against me.
I looked at Rachel.
“What if he actually has more forged records?”
“Then investigators need to determine where they came from.”
“And if someone inside Ellison helped create them?”
Her expression grew serious.
“Then the investigation may reach much further than your sister's studio.”
That evening, Detective Serrano called me personally.
“Lauren, I want you to understand something.”
“What?”
“We're not asking you to approach Mason or investigate him. Please let us handle any contact.”
“I understand.”
She paused.
“But Tessa may have given us an opportunity to identify who he's working with.”
My heartbeat quickened.
“Someone at Ellison?”
“We're still following the evidence.”
Then she revealed one final detail.
Mason had sent Tessa a photograph of the documents he intended to bring to their meeting.
One page appeared to contain employee payment information.
Several names were visible.
I recognized one immediately when the detective described it.
Rosa Delgado.
But the photograph also appeared to include records involving employees whose suspicious payments had not yet been reported.
May you like
Which meant the people behind the scheme might still be planning their next move.
And Mason was preparing to meet my sister before anyone could stop them.
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