0927 Was Her Birthday, Not Ours Chapter 06
I went back to my parents’ rental.
My mom opened the door. Her face froze when she saw me. “Did you and Dylan get the
license?”
I opened my tablet and played everything from start to finish.
When the last line played, my mom went pale.
She grabbed the table edge.
My dad picked up the remote and smashed it on the floor. “Bastard!”
My mom looked at me. “Sienna, back then… the baby. Was he lying to you then too?”
I didn’t answer.
The answer was already written on her face.
My dad went into the bedroom.
He came back with a tin box. Inside was a promissory note. In Dylan’s handwriting.
The date on it was the day my parents sold their house.
I stared. “You guys had him sign a note?”
My dad handed me the paper. “He didn’t want to write it.”
“I told him, even family settles up.”
“He said I didn’t trust him.”
“Your mom was crying. But I made him sign it.”
Dylan’s handwriting was steady.
[I, Dylan Reese, promise to pay Martha and Robert Vance the sum of $120,000.]
Below it, a thumbprint.
I photographed the note and sent it to Larry.
her.
Ten seconds later, Larry replied.
[Key evidence.]
My dad sat down. His hands were still shaking. “Sienna, I couldn’t protect you back then.”
I closed the tin box. “You’re protecting me now.”
The doorbell rang.
Outside stood Dylan’s mother, Helen Reese. She was holding a gift basket. Dylan stood beside
I opened the door but didn’t let them in.
Helen smiled first. “Sienna, I came to see you.”
“What Dylan did today was wrong.
But feelings aren’t something you take to court.
I’ve
seen you two together for five years.”
My dad stepped into the doorway. “You saw everything and still let your son steal our house?”
Helen’s smile slipped. “Come on, that’s a bit harsh.”
My mom laughed coldly. “Don’t ‘come on’ us. It’s disgusting.
Dylan frowned. “Mr. and Mrs. Vance, I’ll make it right.”
My dad slapped the promissory note on the shoe rack by the door. “Start with the hundred twenty thousand.”
Dylan saw the note and went pale.
Helen tried, “That money was for an emergency. Dylan’s had so much pressure.”
“He was building a future for everyone!”
“Sienna, you need to think about how this looks.”
“You really think any guy’s gonna want to touch you after he finds out you let my son use you for five years and never saw it coming?”
My mom lunged forward.
I blocked her.
The red light on my phone recording was on.
Helen spotted it and her face changed instantly. “You’re recording us?”
Dylan reached for my phone.
My dad stepped in front of me. “Get out.”
Dylan stared at me. “Sienna. Don’t burn the last bit of goodwill we have.”
I slowly closed the door. “Get. Out.”
Three days later, the cease-and-desist letter arrived at Dylan’s office.
That afternoon, Dylan called me thirty-seven times.
I didn’t pick up.
In the afternoon, Todd called.
I answered.
He started yelling. “Sienna, are you ever gonna stop?”
I hit record. “Did you make the fake appointment link?”
Todd froze. “What link?”
“The County Clerk’s Office one.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
I opened his feed. Three days ago, he’d posted a picture of his computer screen.
In the bottom right corner, a page test address.
I sent him the screenshot. “You deleted it too late.”
Todd went quiet. When he spoke again, his voice had softened. “Sienna. We’re all friends here.”
“Who’s your friend?”
“Dylan asked me to do him a favor. I didn’t know he was using it to scam you.”
“You didn’t know when the page said ‘County Clerk’s Office’?”
“I thought it was a prank.”
“The time you brought people to my house five years ago to collect a fake debt, was that a prank too?”
The click of a lighter came through the line.
“That was all Dylan’s idea. I just took a little fee for my trouble.”
The words were out before he could stop them.
I said nothing.
Todd panicked. “You tricked me?”
“You talked too fast.”
His voice dropped. “Sienna Vance, don’t come after me.”
“My cousin works at the Internet Safety Office.”
“Your cousin won’t matter when he’s in a cell.”
He swore and hung up.
I sent the recording to Larry.
Larry replied with four words.
[Evidence is solid.]
