Their perfect family reputation started to crumble from the inside out.
The neighbors talked.
People at church whispered.
The same people my parents once tried so hard to impress now crossed the street to avoid them.
At first, they tried to control the narrative.
Dad told anyone who’d listen that it was all a misunderstanding, that jealous competitors had sabotaged him.
But then the facts came out.
The investigators found a trail of falsified transactions, not enough to land him in prison, but enough to cost him everything that mattered to him.
Credibility.
Stability.
And pride.
The business license was revoked.
The family name that once stood for respect in our small town was suddenly synonymous with deceit.
And I didn’t lift a finger.
Tyler kept me updated occasionally, though I asked him not to tell me too much.
I didn’t need to revel in their downfall.
