Lahat ng Kabanata ng Break Me, Step-Daddy : Kabanata 171 - Kabanata 180

Lisa's povThe moment Brandon's words left his mouth, the whole table went quiet. I stared at the laptop, hardly breathing as I looked at the name written in George's notes. Ralph. Seeing his name there felt different from hearing it during our earlier discussions. This time, it had come directly from George, the man who had been investigating something before he was killed.“Let me see that again,” Erin asked, leaning toward the laptop as Brandon turned the screen toward him. Erin studied the note carefully, his eyes moving across every word and date before he reached for the printed copy. “Don't assume this proves anything yet. We need to understand exactly what George was trying to say here,” he explained, keeping his voice calm despite the importance of the discovery.“This is the part I couldn't understand before,” Brandon explained, pointing toward the short section on the screen while he compared it with another document. “George wrote Ralph's name beside the company he was inv

Lisa's pov Julie kept staring at the document I had placed in front of her. Her fingers rested against the table, but she didn't touch the page. The anger in her face had faded into something harder to read. I had seen that look before, usually when she was trying to decide which version of a story would benefit her most.“You're making this more serious than it is,” Julie said, lifting her eyes to mine. “Ralph's name appearing in George's notes doesn't mean I was involved in anything.”I pulled the document closer to her, refusing to let her push it aside. “Then tell me what you know. You recognized his name immediately, and you admitted you've seen records from the old case. That isn't what you told me before.”Julie leaned back in her chair, her mouth tightening. “Knowing about something doesn't mean I caused it,” she replied, folding her arms. “I knew certain things were happening, but that doesn't make me responsible for every crime connected to them.”“I'm not saying you caused

Erin's pov The room had gone quiet after Lisa's demand. The files were spread across the table, coffee sat untouched beside Brandon's elbow, and Megan's laptop glowed with an open timeline. Lisa had asked us to show her everything, so that was exactly what we were doing. No assumptions, no dramatic conclusions, no convenient answers. Just the facts we could prove and the gaps we still needed to close.“Let's start with Ralph,” Brandon said, pulling George's notes toward himself. “Everything we know about him goes into one file. Nothing gets mixed in with Julie's history unless we can prove the connection.”Megan nodded and opened a fresh document on her laptop. “And every detail needs a source,” she added, adjusting her glasses as she studied the papers. “If we can't explain where a fact came from, we don't present it as fact.”Lisa sat beside me, her attention fixed on the documents. “So what do we actually have?” she asked, resting her hands on the table. “Not what we suspect. Wha

Erin's pov The courtroom was already tense when Ralph’s lawyer rose from his seat. He adjusted his jacket, glanced at the judge, and then turned toward me with the kind of calm expression that usually meant trouble. I had expected him to attack the evidence, but his first target was me. Lisa sat behind Megan, her eyes fixed on the proceedings.“Counselor Erin, before we discuss the evidence against my client, I think this court deserves to understand your history with the investigation,” Ralph’s lawyer began, walking slowly toward the witness stand. “You have made emotional decisions before, and one of your previous investigations collapsed under your supervision. Would you agree with that?”“I would agree that an investigation I handled did not reach the outcome it should have,” I replied, keeping my hands still on the stand. “But that doesn't mean every conclusion connected to it was false.”The lawyer smiled faintly, as though he had been waiting for that answer. “And now you've r

Erin's pov The room had gone quiet after Brandon placed the report on the table. I kept looking at Bruce's name, remembering how easily he had entered my life years ago. Back then, I had been grieving, angry, and desperate for answers. Bruce had appeared at the right time, carrying information nobody else seemed willing to share. I had thought his timing was kindness. Now, I wasn't sure what to call it.“Bruce didn't force his way into the investigation,” I explained, resting my hands against the edge of the table. “That's what makes this difficult to understand. He made himself useful. He brought information, introduced me to people, and explained things whenever the official records stopped making sense.”Lisa sat beside me, listening carefully. Megan had the report open in front of her, while Brandon stood near the window with his laptop. Nobody interrupted, so I continued, trying to separate what I remembered from what I had only assumed.“Whenever I reached a dead end, Bruce al