PART4

“Maybe because she watched the video.”

Valerie sighed dramatically.

“You’re unbelievable. You always have to make everything about yourself.”

I looked at the butterfly sticker on the counter.

“You ordered Zayn to destroy my laptop.”

“Don’t start.”

“Why did you do it?”

“Because you needed to learn something.”

“What exactly?”

“That you can’t keep acting like you’re better than everyone because you know how to fix computers.”

I almost couldn’t believe what I was hearing.

“Valerie, you intercepted my client inquiries.”

Silence.

A long silence.

Then she said, “What are you talking about?”

“I have the server logs. Twenty-three customer inquiries. Your email address. Your replies. The management transition proposal.”

Her voice changed.

“How did you get that?”

“From the system I built and maintained.”

“You had no right to look through my emails!”

“They were company inquiries stored on a company website. And the forwarding rule was installed on a system I administered.”

She began speaking faster.

“You don’t understand. Dad asked me to help him. He wanted someone else handling things because you were becoming difficult.”

“Did Dad approve the proposal?”

“That’s none of your business.”

“Did he?”

“You’re trying to turn everyone against me!”

I took a breath.

“Valerie, I haven’t told anyone anything except what the records show.”

She laughed bitterly.

“You think people are going to believe a computer file over me?”

I glanced at the family group chat.

Thirty-one people had already watched the video.

Some had responded with support.

Others were still silent.

“I don’t need anyone to believe me,” I said. “The records speak for themselves.”

Then I ended the call.

At 12:15, a message appeared in the family group chat.

It was from my cousin Daniel.

“Everyone, I think we need to talk about something else. Valerie told me last month that Heath was stealing customers from Dad’s business. She said she had evidence.”

Aunt Phyllis replied immediately.

“Did she show you anything?”

Daniel answered.

“No. She just said Heath was redirecting customers to his own company.”

I stared at the message.

Valerie had not only intercepted my professional opportunities.

She had apparently been telling people I was stealing from my own father.

Then another message appeared.

This time, it was from Uncle Robert.

“I received a call from Valerie two weeks ago. She asked if I would be interested in investing in a new lawn-care company she planned to start with Dennis. She said the existing business needed restructuring.”

I read that message several times.

A new company?

With Dad?

Had he been planning to replace the business I had maintained for five years?

Before I could respond, my phone rang again.

Dad.

I answered.

“Have you spoken to Valerie?” he asked.

“Yes.”

“She says you’ve been digging through private documents.”

“I found a management transition proposal on the website.”

There was silence.

Then Dad said something that made my entire body go cold.

“That document wasn’t supposed to be on the server.”

I gripped the phone.

“What?”

“Listen to me, Heath. You need to stop looking into this.”

“Why?”

“Because there are things you don’t understand.”

“Then explain them.”

He took a deep breath.

“Valerie was supposed to take over the business eventually. I was planning to retire.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Because you were never interested in running a lawn-care company.”

“That’s true. But I built the website. I maintained the customer system. I handled the technical side. You could have told me what was happening.”

“Valerie said you would interfere.”

I closed my eyes.

There it was.

The truth, finally coming from his mouth.

“Did you know she was intercepting customer inquiries?”

“No.”

“Did you know she was telling people I was stealing customers?”

“I didn’t know about that.”

“Did you know she ordered Zayn to smash my laptop?”

He didn’t answer.

I waited.

Finally, he said, “I knew she was angry. I didn’t think she would actually do it.”

I felt something inside me settle.

Not anger.

Not sadness.

Something colder.

My father had known enough to understand that something terrible was happening, but he had chosen not to protect me.

And now he was asking me to protect his business.

“Dad,” I said quietly, “I’m not going to delete those records.”

“I didn’t ask you to delete them.”

“You just told me to stop looking.”

“Because this is becoming ugly.”

“It became ugly when your daughter ordered her son to destroy my property.”

He exhaled.

Then he said the words that changed everything.

“Valerie told me she had already spoken to a lawyer about transferring the company. She said she had an agreement with you.”

I went completely still.

“What agreement?”

“She said you signed something giving her control over the website and customer database.”

I stared at my screen.

“I never signed anything.”

Dad’s voice dropped.

“Then why does she have a copy with your name on it?”

My heart began beating faster.

“What copy?”

“I don’t know. She showed me a document.”

“Send it to me.”

“I can’t.”

“Why not?”

“Because I don’t have it anymore.”

I looked at the management transition proposal on my laptop.

There was a signature page attached to the final section.

I scrolled down.

And there it was.

My name.

My signature.

Or something that looked remarkably like it.

I had never signed that document.

Someone had copied my signature from an old service agreement.

I felt my hands go cold.

“Dad,” I said, “I need you to listen carefully. I never signed that.”

He didn’t respond.

“Someone used my signature without permission.”

A long silence followed.

Then he whispered:

“Valerie told me you had agreed.”

I looked at the screen again.

The document included a proposed transfer date.

It was scheduled for the following Monday.

Only four days away.

And underneath the transfer date was a final paragraph that made my stomach turn.

It stated that all existing administrative access would be transferred to Valerie, while the previous administrator would permanently relinquish control of the company’s digital infrastructure.

The previous administrator.

Me.

I saved another copy.

Then I made a second backup and sent it to my attorney.

Because whatever Valerie had planned, it was no longer just a family argument.

It was a matter of my professional reputation, my work, and possibly a forged legal document.

At 2:40 that afternoon, I received an email from an unfamiliar address.

The subject line read:

Regarding the Overton Lawn Care Management Agreement.

I opened it.

The sender introduced himself as a local business attorney who had been contacted by Valerie.

He explained that he was reviewing the proposed management transfer and needed confirmation that I had voluntarily relinquished my administrative rights.

Attached was a scanned copy of the agreement.

At the bottom was a message.

“Ms. Overton has informed me that you are aware of the transition and have agreed to cooperate. Please confirm.”

I stared at the email.

Then I typed a short response.

CONTINUE FOR NEXT PART5…