He Wanted a Fake Divorce for the Payout, I Gave Him a Real One for the Payback Chapter 07

He Wanted a Fake Divorce for the Payout, I Gave Him a Real One for the Payback Chapter 07

I brought my parents back to the apartment.

The home that was supposedly no longer mine, yet every brick of it was paid for by my brother’s blood.

I settled my parents in the primary bedroom and slept on the couch myself.

Darren and Lorna had run, but I knew how to lure them out.

I made a post on Facebook, attaching clear, high-resolution photos of the property deed and the redevelopment buyout agreement from the Authority Office.

The caption had only one word.

[Fraud.]

Half an hour later, Darren called.

“Clara! Have you lost your mind? Delete that post right now!” Darren roared, his voice cracking.

“No.” My voice was calm. “That’s evidence of fraud. I’m going to the police station now.”

“Don’t! For the love of God, don’t!” Darren’s tone softened immediately.

“We can talk this out. The four hundred and fifty thousand… I haven’t even gotten it yet. The card got frozen.”

“The card got frozen?” I asked.

“Yeah… Mickey took Lorna’s ID and tried to withdraw the money, but the bank flagged it as structuring and locked down the whole account. Now Mickey’s completely off the rails. Now Mickey’s losing his mind. He says he’s going to cut off Lorna’s hand.”

Mickey.

So it really was him.

“Where are they?” I asked.

“In the basement underneath the old freight warehouse by the tracks. Clara, you have to save Lorna. She was Nathan’s widow!”

“Nathan’s widow?” I laughed coldly. “You mean your pregnant little whore.”

The other end of the line went quiet for a moment.

“Clara, I know I messed up. The money, we’ll split it sixty-forty in your favor! Sixty for you, forty for me! Just save Lorna.”

“How?”

“You go tell Mickey you can get the money out. As long as you’re willing to sign, the bank will release it.”

“You want me to sign?”

“Yes. Mickey trusts you. He said you’re a straight shooter. A clean slate.”

Honest.

What a joke.

“Fine. Where are you?”

“I… I don’t dare show my face. Mickey wants to kill me too. I’m scouting the perimeter. Just get down there, and I’ll find you.”

“Wait there.”

I hung up.

Then I took out the paring knife Nathan had left behind and tucked it behind my waist.

I knew Darren was setting me up. He was probably hiding somewhere in the dark, trying to use me as a scapegoat to settle Mickey’s debt.

But he did not know one thing.

I was not afraid of anything anymore.

I called Rusty. “Rusty, bring a few guys to the basement by the old train depot. I need help.”

On the other end, Rusty gave a low, eager laugh. “You got it. Been waiting for a reason to raise hell.”