“Maya. Chloe. Get dressed.”
I sat up.
“What’s wrong?”
Mom looked at both of us.
“We’re leaving the apartment.”
Maya immediately frowned.
“Because of Derek?”
“Because of what he may have done.”
I climbed out of bed.
“What did you find?”
Mom hesitated.
Then she opened the envelope.
Inside was a photocopy of an old document.
At the top were the words:
LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT
My stomach tightened.
“Grandpa’s will?”
Mom nodded.
“I found this in the back of my father’s old filing cabinet years ago.”
Maya looked confused.
“But why didn’t you tell us?”
“Because I thought it was just a copy.”
Mom turned the page.
“Your grandfather left the apartment to me and to both of you.”
I stared at the document.
“All three of us?”
“Yes.”
Maya’s face went pale.
“Then Derek never had any right to it.”
“Exactly.”
Mom’s voice cracked.
“And that’s why I think he has been trying to force me into transferring ownership.”
I remembered Derek’s words.
Not yet.
Suddenly, everything made sense.
The arguments.
The questions about the deed.
The strange phone calls.
The stolen medication.
The accusation against Maya.
The attempt to implicate Mom.
He wasn’t simply angry.
He was desperate.
Because he knew that if Mom remained employed, remained mentally competent, and kept control of the property, he had no legal path to take it.
So he needed to destroy all three of us.
Mom folded the document.
“But there’s something else.”
She pulled out a second sheet.
“Your grandfather included a condition.”
I leaned closer.
“What condition?”
Mom looked directly at me.
“He specifically stated that the property could not be sold, transferred, or used as collateral without the written consent of both daughters.”
Maya stared at me.
“So Derek couldn’t ever force Mom to give it to him.”
“Not legally.”
Mom looked toward the window.
“Which means he needed another way.”
My phone buzzed.
It was Becca.
I answered.
“Hello?”
Her voice was urgent.
“Chloe, I found the original audio file.”
“Where?”
“On your email. The attachment you sent me wasn’t just the video. Your phone automatically included the original audio metadata.”
I didn’t understand all of that.
“But can it prove Derek said those things?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“Because the recording has the original timestamp.”
I looked at Mom.
“What time?”
“10:34 a.m.”
Mom’s eyes widened.
“That’s before the school even knew about the pills.”
Exactly.
We finally had something Derek couldn’t explain away.
But Becca wasn’t finished.
“There is another thing.”
“What?”
“I ran the voice through the recording.”
“And?”
“That second man’s voice?”
“Yes?”
“I know who it is.”
My heart began racing.
“Who?”
Becca whispered a name.
“Mr. Collins.”
I frowned.
“Who’s Mr. Collins?”
“The pharmacy’s assistant manager.”
Mom’s face changed.
“That’s impossible.”
“Why?”
“He was working yesterday.”
Becca replied:
“That’s what he wants everyone to believe.”
For the next hour, Mom contacted the police investigator handling Derek’s case.
We met her at the station.
Her name was Detective Alvarez.
She listened to the recording twice.
Then she watched my original video.
She didn’t interrupt.
When it ended, she placed her hands flat on the desk.
“Chloe, I’m going to ask you something very important.”
I nodded.
“Did anyone tell you to record Derek?”
“No.”
“Did you edit the video?”
“No.”
“Did you move the camera?”
“No.”
“Did you know what he was going to do before he entered your sister’s room?”
“No.”
She looked at Mom.
“And the original file?”
“Still on her phone.”
Detective Alvarez nodded.
“Good.”
Then she leaned back.
“This changes the investigation.”
Mom exhaled.
“What does it mean?”
“It means Derek wasn’t improvising.”
She looked at the documents.
“He had a plan.”
I swallowed.
“And Mr. Collins?”
Detective Alvarez’s expression hardened.
“That’s what we’re going to find out.”
That afternoon, the police went to the pharmacy.
Mr. Collins wasn’t there.
He had called in sick.
But his apartment was empty.
His phone had been turned off.
And when investigators checked his work locker, they found something disturbing.
A folder.
Inside were photocopies of Mom’s employment records.
Her schedule.
Her employee ID.
Inventory reports.
And several handwritten notes.
One note read:
Sarah — 6:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
Another:
Maya — school until 3:15.
Another:
Chloe — usually home after school.
My stomach turned.
They had been watching us.
But there was one final note.
PROPERTY TRANSFER — AFTER TERMINATION
That was the moment the police understood the entire scheme.
Derek didn’t just want to frame Mom for stealing medication.
He wanted her fired.
He wanted Maya accused of possessing stolen controlled substances.
He wanted the family embarrassed and divided.
Then he planned to pressure Mom into signing over the apartment.
And he had someone inside the pharmacy helping him.
But there was still a question.
Why had Mr. Collins disappeared?
The answer came the following evening.
Police found him at a bus station outside Philadelphia.
He had a suitcase.
Cash.
And a plane ticket.
He tried to run.
But investigators had already obtained enough evidence to stop him.
When detectives questioned him, he denied everything.
Until they showed him the recording.
He broke.
Not immediately.
First, he stared at the floor.
Then he whispered:
“Derek said nobody would get hurt.”
Detective Alvarez asked:
“Nobody?”
Collins shook his head.
“He said it was just paperwork.”
“Paperwork?”
“He wanted Sarah fired. He wanted the apartment. He said once she was under financial pressure, she’d sign.”
“Why help him?”
Collins looked ashamed.
“Money.”
“How much?”
“Twenty thousand dollars.”
Mom closed her eyes when she heard that.
Twenty thousand dollars.
That was all it took for someone to gamble with our entire family.
But Collins revealed something even worse.
Derek had been planning this for almost six months.
Six months.
The day I thought he was simply angry about the apartment was actually the middle of his plan.
And there was one final piece.
The envelope he had taken from Mom’s desk.
Collins told police Derek had discovered that Mom possessed the original copy of Grandpa’s will.
Derek had searched the apartment while Mom was at work.
He had found the envelope.
But he couldn’t take it.
Because Mom had already moved the original document to a safe-deposit box.
The envelope he stole contained only a copy.
