“Invested for development.”
“Development of what?” I asked. “There is no code, no team, no license. You do not even have an LLC registered.”
He leaned back.
“You have done your homework.”
Michael came down the stairs, squinting at him.
“And who might you be?”
“Tyler Morgan,” he said smoothly, extending a hand. “Your daughter’s business partner.”
Michael hesitated, not taking it.
“Business partner or boyfriend?”
Tyler chuckled.
“If you want, I can be both.”
The comment hung in the air like smoke.
Before I could speak, the low rumble of an engine sounded from outside, tires on gravel.
A car door slammed.
Karen looked up first.
“It is Khloe,” she whispered.
She stepped through the doorway a moment later, hair unbrushed, eyes hollow, wearing yesterday’s clothes.
When her gaze landed on Tyler, she froze.
“What are you doing here?”
Her voice cracked.
Tyler’s grin faltered, then returned thinner this time.
“Babe, relax. I told you I would fix it.”
“Get out,” she said, stepping back. “You were not supposed to come here.”
Michael’s eyes darted between them.
“You brought this man into our house. You used your brother’s money for him.”
“Dad, please,” she whispered, shaking her head.
I opened the laptop on the coffee table, the same one from the locker.
“He does not want to fix anything,” I said. “He wants to disappear before the police find him.”
I turned the screen toward Tyler.
“Recognize this? Emails, contracts, forged signatures, all tied to you.”
For the first time, his smirk slipped.
“You have been busy.”
“I had to be,” I said. “You were building your empire with my family’s mortgage.”
He looked at Khloe, then his voice softening.
“You told me you would handle him.”
“I tried,” she whispered.
“But you lied to me.”
Michael’s hand slammed down on the table, making the coffee spill.
“Enough! You stole from your own family.”
Tyler’s hoodie sleeve shifted as he lifted his arm, revealing a thin line of ink on his wrist.
Numbers.
Small but sharp.
I recognized them instantly, the same case ID from the fraud report Ethan had sent me.
He was not just a scammer.
He was a convicted one.
“Get out,” I said.
He smiled again, but the charm was gone.
“You do not get it, kid. You are already in this. Your name is on the paperwork. You are as guilty as she is.”
Karen gasped.
Michael stared at me, disbelief flickering in his eyes.
I did not flinch.
“I already called the police,” I said, my voice steady. “They will be here any minute.”
Tyler froze.
Khloe’s legs gave out, and she sank into the chair.
Outside, faint at first, came the distant wail of sirens.
I looked at Tyler.
“You said you wanted to fix it. Now’s your chance.”
He did not move.
He just watched me, eyes narrowing as the sound grew louder.