Chapter 3 - Jason Was at the Hospital
Jason reached for my phone.
I pulled it away.
“Don’t.”
“Hannah, that message is not what you think.”
“Good.”
My voice sounded calm.
Too calm.
“Then tell me what it is.”
He looked at Chloe.
Again.
That glance.
That tiny reflex had become louder than words.
I opened the thread.
Only one visible message.
The rest deleted.
But iCloud still showed an older backup.
My fingers shook as I restored it.
Jason said, “Please don’t do this here.”
I looked at the fourteen people around my father’s Thanksgiving table.
“Here is perfect.”
The messages loaded.
Weeks.
Months.
Then a year.
Jason and Chloe.
At first harmless.
How’s Hannah?
Did she land?
Mom’s freaking out.
Then jokes.
Then secrets.
Then one line that stopped my breathing.
I wish I met you first.
Jason stepped toward me.
“Hannah.”
I kept scrolling.
Chloe:
You still could have.
Jason:
Don’t.
Chloe:
Coward.
More.
Late-night messages.
Photos of wineglasses.
Hotel receipts.
Then the one that split me open.
A photograph.
Jason kissing Chloe in my father’s kitchen.
Date:
Four months earlier.
The same night I had landed at BWI and texted Jason that my flight was delayed.
He had replied:
Stuck at work. Love you.
I stared at the picture.
The room went blurry.
Jason said my name.
I held up one hand.
He stopped.
Chloe started crying.
Not because she was sorry.
Because she was caught.
I scrolled farther.
Six months earlier.
Chloe:
Once Dad’s gone and Hannah leaves, we can stop pretending.
Jason:
Don’t say that.
Chloe:
You know what I mean.
Jason:
I do.
I looked at him.
He could not meet my eyes.
I laughed.
It came out broken.
“So the will wasn’t enough.”
“Hannah—”
“You needed my boyfriend too.”
Chloe snapped.
“You left.”
There it was again.
The family anthem.
I looked at her.
“I left for college.”
“You left all of us.”
“I was eighteen.”
“You got everything.”
My chest tightened.
“What did I get?”
“Dad’s pride.”
The answer surprised me.
Chloe’s face twisted.
“You were always the one he bragged about.”
“That’s what this is?”
“No.”
“You slept with Jason because Dad was proud of me?”
She wiped her face.
“I didn’t plan it.”
Jason finally spoke.
“It happened once.”
Chloe looked at him.
“What?”
He closed his eyes.
Wrong lie.
She laughed bitterly.
“Once?”
I turned to him.
“How long?”
“Hannah.”
“How long?”
“Six months.”
Chloe said, “Nine.”
The room went dead.
Jason stared at her.
She shrugged.
“You’re done lying now, right?”
Something inside me almost admired the cruelty.
Almost.
Robert stood near the fireplace, silent.
He knew this was not his part yet.
I looked at Jason.
“You blocked Robert.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Chloe asked me to.”
I turned.
She folded her arms.
“I thought he was going to upset Mom.”
“You thought Dad’s lawyer calling me would upset Mom.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Chloe did not answer.
I went back to the messages.
Search.
Robert.
Found.
Chloe:
Block Miller on her phone if he starts calling.
Jason:
Why?
Chloe:
Because Mom says probate has to be filed first.
Jason:
Is that legal?
Chloe:
Stop acting stupid.
Another.
Jason:
What if Hannah finds out?
Chloe:
She’ll look guilty by then.
My thumb stopped.
I read it twice.
“Guilty of what?”
Jason whispered, “I didn’t know.”
I looked at him.
“What?”
“Whatever they were planning.”
“You helped anyway.”
“I thought it was estate paperwork.”
“You slept with her, blocked Dad’s lawyer, signed a fake will, and accessed my banking.”
“I never touched your money.”
Robert said, “Actually, we don’t know that yet.”
Jason’s face changed.
He reached into his pocket.
Pulled out a small silver tin.
Opened it.
A white tablet.
He swallowed it dry.
I watched.
“What is that?”
“Anxiety medication.”
The tin label flashed.
JASON CARTER.
Prescription number.
I barely noticed.
Not yet.
Robert did.
His eyes stayed on the tin half a second too long.
Then he looked at me.
“We should check the accounts.”
We moved into Dad’s study.
Mom protested.
Police kept her in the dining room.
Chloe followed until I shut the door in her face.
Jason tried to come in.
“No.”
“Hannah.”
“No.”
He stopped.
Robert connected his encrypted drive.
“Forensic audit.”
Rows of transactions filled the screen.
Caregiver reimbursements.
Property maintenance.
Medical transport.
Home modifications.
Amounts repeated under different vendor names.
Robert highlighted one company.
CEDAR RIDGE CONSULTING.
My stomach tightened.
Jason had mentioned that name.
A side consulting business.
I searched the state registry.
Owner:
JASON CARTER.
I stared.
“How much?”
Robert totaled the transfers.
$418,000.
The room tilted.
Jason pounded on the door.
“Hannah!”
I opened it.
Held the laptop toward him.
“What is Cedar Ridge?”
His face collapsed.
He looked at Chloe.
Then Mom.
Then me.
“I can explain.”
“Go.”
He swallowed.
“Your mother asked me to create it.”
Mom shouted from the dining room.
“He is lying!”
Jason flinched.
Then something hardened in him.
For the first time all night, he looked at Linda instead of me.
“I have recordings.”
Mom went silent.
Jason pulled out his phone.
Opened an audio file.
Linda’s voice filled the hallway.
Calm.
Cold.
“Thomas will be gone before the audit matters.”
Nobody moved.
I looked at my mother.
May you like
“What did you mean by gone?”
CUT.
