Chapter 6 - The Trap is SetListening to my own mother casually discuss my life insurance policy while drinking my champagne sent a wave of absolute fury through my veins. It wasn't just greed anymore. It was pure evil.
They didn't just want my money. They were waiting for me to break—or worse.
"Ethan," Emily whispered, holding my arm as she looked at the phone screen. "You didn't update your union forms after we got married?"
"I thought I did," I said, searching my memory through the haze of ninety-hour work weeks. "I filled out the papers six months ago... I handed them to Uncle Arthur because he promised to turn them into the union HR representative!"
"He never turned them in," Emily realized, her eyes wide with terror. "He kept them so your mother would remain the beneficiary!"
The puzzle pieces were finally fitting together. It was a calculated, multi-year trap designed by my mother and orchestrated by her corrupt lawyer brother. They had used me as a cash cow, milked my credit dry, blackmailed my wife, and kept me trapped in a cycle of poverty so I would keep working dangerous overtime shifts at the distribution plant.
"They want a war?" I muttered, wiping a drop of cold sweat from my forehead. "I'll give them a war."
I tapped my phone to record the live stream, saving the entire audio and video feed directly to my cloud storage. Every word, every laugh, every mention of the fraudulent insurance scheme was captured in high-definition 1080p.
Then, I made a call to a person I hadn't spoken to in three years: Sam Vance.
Sam was my older brother. Three years ago, he had cut ties with our mother completely and moved to the North Side. At the time, Teresa had told me Sam was a "selfish traitor who hated his family." Now, I realized Sam was simply the only one smart enough to escape early.
"Ethan?" Sam’s voice answered on the second ring, heavy with sleep. "It’s two in the morning. What’s going on?"
"Sam," I said, my voice shaking. "You were right. About everything. About Ma. About Arthur. About all of it."
Silence on the line for three seconds. Then Sam let out a long, heavy breath. "What did she do to you, Ethan?"
I explained everything in five brutal minutes: Emily's premature labor, the drained bank account, the stolen identity, the fake domestic violence charge, and the life insurance scheme.
"Those bastards," Sam growled, his voice instantly turning to pure iron. "I knew Arthur was dirty. Ethan, listen to me. I work as an IT administrator for the county court network now. I have direct access to the emergency warrant portal."
"Can you pull the property deeds?" I asked.
"Better," Sam replied. "I can check the union filings. Arthur might be a lawyer, but he’s sloppy. Give me ten minutes."
Ten minutes later, Sam called back. His laughter was cold and sharp.
"Ethan, you’re not going to believe this," Sam said. "Arthur made a fatal mistake."
"What mistake?"
"When Arthur filed the temporary restraining order tonight, he filed it using the apartment address on the South Side, claiming Teresa was the legal primary resident, right?"
"Right."
"Well, he forgot that three weeks ago, Teresa applied for state housing assistance benefits listing her primary residence as a shelter in West Chicago so she could steal four hundred dollars a month in food stamps!" Sam revealed. "She committed state welfare fraud! And because she swore under oath on the restraining order that she lived at your apartment, she just committed perjury on a legal affidavit!"
A slow, vicious smile spread across my face.
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"Is that enough for a warrant?" I asked.
"It’s not just enough for a warrant, brother," Sam declared. "It’s enough to bring the State Attorney General’s Fraud Unit straight to your front door before sunrise."
