Naomi drove me home after the doctor cleared me.

Two patrol cars waited outside, but the front door stood open.

“Stay behind me,” Mara said.

I gripped my cane.

“It is my house.”

“And I intend to help you keep it.”

We found Derek in the study, pulling files from my locked cabinet.

A canvas bag lay open on the carpet.

Mara reached for her restraints.

“Step away from the cabinet.”

“I’m not taking anything,” Derek said.

“I’m trying to save it.”

I pointed at the bag.

“Then put every paper on the desk.”

He emptied it slowly.

Bank statements, insurance records, and a small black notebook landed in front of me.

“Amanda kept that notebook behind our furnace,” he said.

“It lists every pill she gave you and every payment to Dr.

Vale.”

Naomi opened it.

“Why didn’t you bring this to the police months ago?”

“Because I didn’t find it until last week.”

“And after finding it, you still pushed me,” I said.

Derek’s mouth trembled.

“She said if I refused, she would tell the police the pills were mine.”

“You could have told me.”

“You were pretending not to know your own son.”

The words landed harder than the lake water.

My cane slipped against the desk.

Thomas caught my elbow.

“Eleanor, sit down.”

“No.” I looked at Derek.

“Say what you mean.”

His eyes filled.

“After Dad passed, you gave me money whenever I failed.

You paid my tuition, my rent, my business debts.

But you never once said you trusted me to stand on my own.”

“I kept rescuing you.”

“You kept reminding me I needed rescue.”

“And that made you lift my wheelchair?”

“No.” He wiped his face.

“Cowardice made me do that.”

My knees weakened, and Thomas guided me into the chair.

Derek reached toward me, but I pulled back.

“You had one second to choose,” I said.

“You chose her.”

“I know.”

A woman appeared in the doorway holding a battered red folder.

Amanda’s sister Celeste looked from Derek to me.

Mara stepped forward.

“Why are you here?”

“Because Amanda called me from the hospital and told me to burn this.”

Celeste placed the folder beside the notebook.

“I told her I had done it.”

Naomi opened it.

Inside were copies of property deeds, transfers, and messages between Amanda and Dr.

Vale.

Celeste removed a flash drive from her necklace.

“She has been recording Derek for months.

Every time he objected, she saved it so she could threaten him later.”

Derek stared at her.

“Why are you helping us?”

Celeste’s jaw tightened.

“Because she did this to our aunt.”

Amanda had described that aunt as a wealthy recluse who abandoned the family.

Celeste placed a photograph in my hand.

“Aunt Rose did not abandon anyone.

Amanda obtained control of her accounts, moved her into a private facility, and sold her home.”

“Where is Rose now?” I asked.

“Alive.

I found her yesterday.”

Naomi gripped the edge of the desk.

“Will she testify?”

“She already gave a statement.”

Derek sank into the chair opposite me.

“Amanda said Rose had lost her mind.”

“That is what she says about women whose names appear on property she wants.”

My house phone rang.

Naomi answered and activated the speaker.

Amanda’s voice filled the room.

“Eleanor, I know Celeste is there.

Give me the notebook and the drive, or Derek goes down alone.”

“You pushed him into this,” I said.

“No.

I merely discovered what your son was willing to do.”

Derek stood.

“Tell her about the lake house deed, Amanda.”

Amanda laughed softly.

“You mean the deed your mother signed yesterday?”

Naomi rushed to the county records website.

Her face changed.

“The lake house was transferred this morning,” she said.

“The buyer paid three million dollars.”

Amanda’s voice became almost cheerful.

“And the money is already gone.”