Chapter 6 - The Viral Trap
The next week was chaos for Mark and Lucas, and quiet for me. I moved into a small rented cottage on the edge of town, paid for six months in advance with cash, the windows fitted with security bars, a new alarm system Arthur had installed. I spent my days going through Robert’s old journals—Tom had sent me a box of them from the Maine farmhouse, full of his plans for the retreat, his notes about the boys, his love letters to me written on days he’d been away on business.
The boys, meanwhile, were self-destructing in real time. The police had seized all their electronic devices—laptops, phones, home computers—and were going through them with a fine-tooth comb. Their lawyers told them to stop talking to each other, to stop posting on social media, to lay low. But they were too angry, too scared, too entitled to listen.
It started with a fight at a local country club. Mark was there drinking, and a man he’d done business with for years walked up to him and said, “I can’t believe you stole from your own dad. Bob was a good man.” Mark snapped, punching the guy in the face, breaking his nose. Someone filmed it, posted it to TikTok, and it got 3 million views in 24 hours. Mark was arrested for assault, his bail set at $50,000—money he couldn’t get, because all his accounts were frozen.
Lucas bailed him out with money he borrowed from a loan shark, a stupid move that would come back to bite him later. That night, they met at Lucas’s house, screaming at each other so loud the neighbors called the police. The body cam footage from the responding officers leaked to the press a day later: Mark screaming, “This is all your fault! You came up with the embezzlement plan! I just went along with it!” Lucas screaming back, “You’re the one who wanted to lock Mom up! You’re the greedy bastard! If you’d just let her sell the house, we never would’ve gotten caught!”
It was the final nail in their public coffins. The video was played on every news channel in the country. Their own mothers-in-law disowned them. Their kids refused to talk to them. Sarah filed for divorce, taking the kids and the house, and gave a statement to the press saying, “I had no idea what Mark was capable of. I’m ashamed I ever married him.”
I watched the body cam footage twice, my face neutral. Arthur called me right after, his voice urgent. “This is perfect. The body cam has them both admitting to the embezzlement, to the plan to declare you incompetent. The DA said this is enough to indict. We can press charges tomorrow. They’ll be in custody by the end of the week.”
I paused, staring at Robert’s photo on the cottage mantel. “Not yet,” I said. “I want them to come to me. I want them to beg. I want them to admit every single thing they did, on camera, to me. Then we press charges.”
Arthur sighed, but he agreed. “Okay. But be careful. They’ve got nothing left to lose now. The loan shark Lucas borrowed from? He’s connected. If they don’t pay him back soon, he’s gonna hurt them. They might try to hurt you to get the money.”
He was right. That night, I got a knock on my cottage door at 2 a.m. I looked through the peephole and saw Lucas, his face bruised, his clothes torn, holding a knife in his hand. Mark was right behind him, his arm in a sling from the country club fight, a baseball bat in his other hand.
“Open up, Mom!” Lucas yelled, pounding on the door so hard the windows rattled. “We know you’re in there! We need the money! That loan shark is gonna break our legs if we don’t pay him back by Friday! Give us the Maine money, and we’ll leave you alone forever!”
I didn’t panic. I’d already called 911 the second I saw them, the operator on the line listening as they screamed threats through the door. The alarm system was blaring, the security cameras recording every second.
“You’re violating the restraining order!” I yelled back through the door, my voice steady. “The police are on their way. If you don’t leave now, you’ll go to prison for ten years just for this!”
Mark laughed, a crazy, desperate sound. “Ten years? We’re already facing ten years for the embezzlement! What’s another few? Open the door, or we’ll break it down!”
He raised the bat, and I heard the wood crack against the door frame. Just then, the sound of sirens filled the air, getting closer and closer. Mark and Lucas froze, then turned and ran, disappearing into the woods behind the cottage.
The police arrived two minutes later, taking my statement, collecting the bat Mark had dropped, pulling the security camera footage. An APB was put out for both of them for violating the restraining order, attempted breaking and entering, and assault with a deadly weapon.
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I sat on my couch after they left, drinking a glass of water, my hands only shaking a little. They’d hit rock bottom. They had no money, no friends, no family, no reputation, a loan shark after them, and multiple criminal charges pending. There was only one thing left for them to do.
They were gonna come crawling back. And this time, I’d be ready.
