Chapter 14 - The Case Nobody Could Laugh Away
Alvarez invited my parents and Sloan to give statements. I wasn't told everything they said; an investigation wasn't a family meeting where I could listen from the next room.
I was told enough to understand that their stories didn't match.
Sloan claimed I'd slipped. Bellamy's full recording showed her heel and shoulder. Dad claimed he'd used the card with my permission. The venue's security footage and my immediate dispute said otherwise. Mom claimed not to have known about the payment, but she had walked my bag to the terminal.
Nora asked me not to celebrate yet. Evidence had to be reviewed, and outcomes could take months.
Meanwhile, Sloan put up another post describing herself as the victim of a jealous sister. This one used photographs from our childhood: me standing awkwardly behind her at a birthday party, her smiling in a new dress I'd been told we couldn't afford for me.
She wrote that I'd spent my entire life trying to ruin her happiness.
For once, I didn't answer publicly. I sent the post to Nora and went to physical therapy.
That morning I managed a transfer from the bed to my chair with much less help. It was small progress. It mattered more to me than proving anything to strangers online.
After therapy, my employer called. The compliance review had confirmed I'd reported the misuse promptly. My card privileges remained restricted pending the bank's findings, but my position wasn't in jeopardy.
“Your work record speaks for itself,” the director said.
I thanked him and hung up before he could hear me cry.
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Then Thatcher forwarded a message Sloan had sent him: “If Merritt backs off, I can make Dad pay back the card. But if she keeps going, I'll tell everyone why she really fell.”
Attached was a photograph I'd never seen: myself in the bridal suite, kneeling to adjust my brace. Behind me, Sloan was holding a pair of scissors.
