During my hospital stay, while I was still recovering, Ryan had taken a bus to Greg’s office on his own. He’d walked into the reception area clutching a photo of his father and asked where he was.
He’d told Greg’s coworkers, with tears in his eyes, “My dad left the house with a woman we don’t know, and my mom collapsed.”
Grown men who barely looked up from their screens on most days suddenly had all the time in the world for a frightened ten-year-old.
They suspected Mandy immediately. She and Greg had left the company at almost the same time. There were photos from the welcome party showing them too close to be just coworkers.
Someone gave Ryan the address Mandy had used on her HR forms. It turned out she still lived with her parents in an older neighborhood across town.
A week later, I’d gone there with a printed photo of her.
Her parents had come out on the porch. Nice house, neatly trimmed lawn, wind chimes tinkling in the breeze.
I told them everything.
I told them about the marriage, the van, the drained account, the hospital.
The color had drained from her mother’s face. Her father’s jaw tightened.
Today, I’d asked them to wait near the park, out of sight, until I gave a signal by text.
Now here they were, filling the doorway of the camper van like judges.
“How could you do this to me?” Mandy screamed at me now. “You’re the worst.”
“I don’t want to hear that from you,” I replied. “That’s my line.”
I glanced at her stomach.
“By the way,” I said, “your stomach seems quite big. When is the baby due?”
“In three months,” she snapped automatically.
“Three months,” I repeated. “That doesn’t line up with when you met my husband. You two met only three months ago. It’s not time for the baby to be born yet.”
Greg’s head jerked toward her.
“Wait,” he said, his eyes widening. “What does that mean?”
Mandy rolled her eyes.
“Are you stupid?” she said, dropping the sweet act. “Don’t you get it? It takes about nine months from conception to birth. Which means the child I’m carrying isn’t yours. You’re so foolish.”
“What do you mean?” Greg shouted. “Mandy, have you been deceiving me this whole time? I left my family—”
“Ah, I almost got away with it,” she said with a bitter little laugh. “Can’t help it now that I’m caught. You’re so naive you can’t see through lies at all. Really a fool.”
“Don’t mock me!” Greg yelled, his face flushing a deep, ugly red. “My whole life is ruined because of you. What were you thinking?”
They erupted into an ugly argument, voices rising and crashing against each other in the small space.
Nobody intervened. Not her parents. Not the officers. Not me.
Ryan and I watched quietly, like observing a storm from behind glass.
Meanwhile, I stepped outside and signaled to the officers. We explained the situation again—about the van, the drained account, the fact that Greg had no permission to use either.
As the sun dipped behind the trees, the forest park filled with the flicker of red and blue lights.
“No, really, I was wrong,” Greg babbled as the officers approached the van. “I was truly wrong. I’m sorry. I’ll work hard and never cheat again, so please, just don’t arrest me.”
“Dad,” Ryan said, his voice calm, almost gentle, “people don’t change that easily. Especially lazy people like you.”
His words were like a small, precise hammer.
“Exactly,” I said. “Ryan’s right. I can’t trust you at all. Reflect on your actions and pay for your crimes at the police station.”
Greg turned desperate eyes on me.
“If I get arrested,” he pleaded, “I won’t be able to pay back the money. Is that okay with you?”
“I don’t mind,” I replied. “Pay me back after you’ve atoned for your sins. Take your time. Don’t worry—I’ve already found you a place to work.”
He blinked, confused.
“Let’s see,” I went on, my voice steady now. “There’s Ryan’s child support, plus the twenty thousand dollars you stole from me. I’m not sure how much it will all add up to with interest and fees, but you’ll work and pay it all back.”
I had one last thing to say to Mandy.
“You might think you’re just an onlooker,” I told her, “but don’t forget you’re an accomplice to Greg’s theft. Be prepared for that. If Greg can’t return the stolen money, you’ll have to pay.”
She shivered, the bravado draining from her face.
“Mom, Dad, please help me,” she begged, turning to her parents.
Her father shook his head.
“We disown a daughter who causes trouble for others,” he said coldly. “You brought this on yourself.”
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