Home Entertainment Game Technology I wrote a $500,000 check for my son’s wedding.But his pregnant bride didn’t look at my son when I handed her the deed. She looked straight at my wife. Two days later, the restaurant manager called me, and whispered, “You need to see this immediately. Come alone. And whatever you do, do not tell your wife.” My blood ran cold. And the secret behind it shattered my world.

“He’s stealing from the church to

pay off your son,” Sterling corrected gently. “Preston has a severe, undocumented gambling problem. Illegal sports betting syndicates. Marcus has been embezzling the church funds to keep the bookies from breaking Preston’s legs. It’s a vicious cycle.”

I closed my eyes. The holy man and his bastard son, bonded by blood and crime, financed by my hard work.

“Lock it all down,” I commanded. “Every account. Every deed. Revoke the lake house transfer—fraud invalidates the contract. By Saturday night, I want them holding nothing but air.”

The final piece of the puzzle fell into place on Thursday. Harper, growing impatient with my continued survival, ambushed me at a local cafe while I was supposedly reading the paper.

She sat across from me, her eyes cold and calculating. “Richard, let’s stop playing games. You’re dying. We both know it. The doctors know it.”