My mother looked like someone had pulled the floor out from under her. “Our phones?”
Emily’s eyes darted to mine, and I saw something there I’d never seen before.
Fear that she couldn’t charm her way out of.
Mark shifted his weight. “This is overkill.”
Green’s voice stayed calm. “Overkill is stealing someone’s identity and using a fake emergency to pressure a wire transfer.”
Mark’s throat bobbed.
Then Emily’s voice came out, small and cracked.
“Mom,” she whispered.
My mother turned, desperate. “What?”
Emily’s eyes filled. “I didn’t think—”
My father’s face tightened. “Emily.”
Green’s gaze sharpened. “Emily, what didn’t you think?”
Emily’s shoulders shook. She looked at my mother, then my father, then Mark, like she was begging for someone to take the fall for her.
No one moved.
My mother’s mouth opened and closed. My dad stared straight at Emily in a way that felt less like love and more like warning.
Mark stared at the wall, already trying to detach.
Emily’s eyes landed on me.
And in that second, I realized something that made my stomach turn colder than any scam ever could.
This wasn’t a random stranger who’d guessed our family.
This was my family using a scam script because it worked on people like me.
Emily’s voice broke. “It was supposed to be… just a loan.”
My mother gasped like she’d been stabbed. “Emily!”
Mark’s head snapped around. “Are you serious?”
My dad’s face went gray.
Green didn’t react emotionally. She just nodded like a door had finally opened. “Tell me exactly what happened.”
Emily’s breath came in ragged pulls. “Mark needed money.”
Mark snapped, “I did not—”
Emily flinched. “You did. You said—”
“I said I needed help,” Mark argued, already rewriting.
Green lifted a hand. “Mark, be quiet.”
It was the first time I’d ever seen anyone in my parents’ house tell Mark to shut up and have it stick.
Emily’s tears slid down her cheeks, smearing mascara further. “He said if he didn’t pay… he’d be in trouble.”
My mother made a choking sound. “Emily, why didn’t you tell us—”
Emily’s laugh came out sharp and bitter. “I did tell you. You always tell me it’ll be okay. You always say we’ll figure it out. And then you call Olivia.”
My mother’s face collapsed.
My father swallowed hard. “Emily…”