Chapter 7 - The Name He Stole
I stared at the phone.
I couldn’t move.
The message was still there.
The words were still there.
“The transfer is complete. She won’t know until tomorrow.”
But the worst part wasn’t the message.
It was the name at the top.
Mine.
My account.
My identity.
Someone had already become me.
Andy watched my face carefully.
And for the first time that night, I understood something.
He wasn’t showing me the message because he was afraid.
He was showing me because he thought he had won.
“You see?” he said quietly.
My eyes moved from the screen to him.
“What did you do?”
He leaned back.
“That’s the problem, Summer. You always assume the worst.”
I almost laughed.
After everything.
After the fake documents.
After the hidden accounts.
After the secret company.
He still wanted to act like I was the unreasonable one.
Rachel stepped forward.
“Open the details.”
Andy looked at her.
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because this is a private matter.”
Rachel smiled.
A cold smile.
“No, Andy. It stopped being private when you used someone else’s identity.”
Evelyn reached for the phone.
Andy immediately grabbed it.
“Mom.”
That single word changed everything.
Because Evelyn looked at him differently.
Not like a mother looking at her son.
Like someone looking at a stranger.
“Give me the phone.”
Andy hesitated.
Then slowly handed it over.
Evelyn looked at the screen.
Her face became pale.
“What is this?”
Nobody answered.
She scrolled.
Then she stopped.
“What is this account?”
Andy remained silent.
“Andy.”
His jaw tightened.
“It’s temporary.”
“Temporary?”
Evelyn looked at him.
“You created an account under Summer’s name.”
“I was protecting her.”
“No.”
Evelyn’s voice became sharper.
“You were protecting yourself.”
The room became silent.
Because even Andy knew she was right.
Rachel took the phone from Evelyn.
She examined the information.
Then her expression changed.
“This isn’t just a transfer.”
I looked at her.
“What do you mean?”
She turned the screen toward me.
“He moved money out of the company.”
I frowned.
“How much?”
Rachel hesitated.
Then answered.
“Forty thousand dollars.”
The same amount.
The same number.
The same money he spent on the car.
But now I understood.
The car wasn’t the beginning.
It was the distraction.
The money had already been moving.
The luxury rims.
The expensive tires.
The image.
All of it was just what I could see.
The real damage was hidden.
“Where did it go?” I asked.
Rachel looked at the screen.
“To another account.”
“Whose?”
She didn’t answer immediately.
That scared me.
“Rachel.”
She looked at me.
“It was transferred to an account belonging to Michael.”
My stomach dropped.
The same man.
The same person from the photograph.
The person standing beside Andy three years earlier.
The person who had helped him hide everything.
Andy stood up.
“This is getting out of control.”
I looked at him.
“No.”
My voice was quiet.
“It’s finally becoming clear.”
His expression changed.
“You think you understand everything?”
“No.”
I looked directly at him.
“I think I understand enough.”
For a moment, he looked like he wanted to say something.
But he stopped.
Because he knew.
Every explanation would create another question.
Every lie would expose another secret.
Rachel closed the laptop.
“There’s still one problem.”
Everyone looked at her.
“What?”
She looked at me.
“The transfer was approved using your digital signature.”
I felt cold.
“But I didn’t approve it.”
“I know.”
“Then how?”
Rachel looked toward Andy.
Nobody needed to ask.
Andy had the answer.
“You had access to my accounts.”
He didn’t deny it.
That hurt more than an excuse.
Because denial would have meant he was still trying.
Instead, he just stood there.
Silent.
“How long?” I asked.
Andy looked away.
“How long did you have access?”
“Summer…”
“How long?”
His silence became the answer.
I closed my eyes.
Eight years.
Eight years of sharing a home with someone who knew how to unlock every part of my life.
But I never knew what was happening behind my back.
Evelyn stood.
“You need to leave.”
Andy looked at her.
“Mom.”
“No.”
Her voice trembled.
“I spent years defending you.”
She pointed toward the door.
“But I will not defend this.”
Andy looked shocked.
Because he never expected her to choose me.
Not over him.
Not her own son.
“I’m your son.”
Evelyn nodded.
“And you will always be my son.”
A pause.
“But that does not mean I will let you destroy someone else.”
Andy looked at me.
And something in his expression changed.
The confidence disappeared.
The anger disappeared.
For the first time, I saw fear.
Real fear.
“Summer.”
I looked at him.
“What?”
He swallowed.
“You need to know something.”
I didn’t answer.
“Michael wasn’t the one who started this.”
Rachel froze.
Evelyn looked at him.
“What are you saying?”
Andy looked toward the table.
Toward all the documents.
Toward all the evidence.
Then he whispered:
“I wasn’t the first person who used her name.”
The room went silent.
My heartbeat became louder.
“What?”
Andy looked at me.
And I knew from his face that whatever came next was something he had been afraid to reveal.
“Before me…”
He stopped.
“Before you and I got married…”
Nobody moved.
“Someone already had access to your information.”
I stared at him.
“That’s impossible.”
Andy shook his head.
“No.”
His voice dropped.
“It’s the reason I knew exactly how to do it.”
Rachel stepped forward.
“Who?”
Andy looked at her.
Then at Evelyn.
Then back at me.
And he said a name.
A name that made Evelyn’s face lose all color.
A name that made her whisper:
“No…”
I turned toward Andy.
“Who?”
He opened his mouth.
And before he could answer…
The lights in the house suddenly went out.
The room went completely dark.
Then my phone vibrated.
One new message.
From an unknown number.
I looked at the screen.
May you like
There was only one sentence.
“Ask Evelyn why she never told you about your father.”
