“Wh-what is this garbage?” he stammered, backing away from the television as if it were radioactive. “That’s a deep fake! That’s illegal wiretapping!”

“It’s a security camera inside my own home, placed for medical monitoring, recording a conversation in a shared living space,” Harrison said smoothly. “Fully admissible.”

“No!” Mark shrieked, throwing his own uncle under the bus without hesitation. “Richard made me do it! He manipulated the contracts! I didn’t know it was fraud!”

Before it could boil into a brawl between uncle and nephew, a heavy, authoritative knock sounded in the hall.

“Our last guests,” Harrison said quietly, and rose to open the door.

Chapter 6 — The Weight It Was Meant to Hold

An imposing older man in a bespoke charcoal suit stood in the doorway, sharp unforgiving eyes locking straight onto my husband.