Chapter 11 - The Words Under My Name
The screenshots Tiffany's lawyer sent were neat little pieces of fiction. One showed me writing, It's time Maya learned consequences. Another said, I trust Tiffany to handle everything while I'm away. A third asked the school not to involve Kelly because she made Maya emotional.
I recognized my email address. I recognized the way Tiffany used a period at the end of every short text. The words weren't mine.
"Can we prove it?" I asked Lena.
"We can preserve evidence and request relevant records through the proper process," she said. "First we need to stop treating screenshots as authenticated messages."
My provider's account history listed an active session on our family tablet during the dates in question. Tiffany kept the tablet in the kitchen for grocery lists and school notices. I had never signed out. That didn't prove who typed each message. It did show how someone with access could use my account.
I wrote a timeline, every trip and every reply I could independently place. I included the day I ignored Maya's request to talk after she asked whether being "good" meant doing whatever an adult wanted. I'd said, "Ask Tiffany. She knows the rules." The sentence sat on the page like an accusation I couldn't appeal.
That evening, Tiffany finally called me.
"Greg, we've both made mistakes," she said. "If we stop making this public, there's still a family to save."
"Where did those messages come from?"
"You gave me permission to manage your household."
"I didn't give you permission to pretend to be me."
She went silent. Then she said, "Be careful what you claim. You weren't even there."
I stared at the notebook Maya had made. "You're right about one thing," I said. "I wasn't."
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After I hung up, Lena forwarded a new file: a list of people who had attended Good Order sessions. At the top was a name I didn't expect.
The school district's parent-engagement coordinator.
