My family laughed when my cousin pushed me into a cake, but the ER doctor’s CT scan proved I was struck before I fell.

Detective Hayes walked deliberately into the formal drawing room, pulling out a portable projector and plugging it into the wall outlet. Without asking permission, she aimed the high-lumen beam directly onto the blank white wall above the marble fireplace.

"Have a seat, everyone," Hayes said with cold authority. "Movie night."

The image flashed onto the wall.

The entire sequence played in crisp, horrifying, slow-motion detail.

The frame where Marlene handed the black sap to Garrett.

The frame where Garrett struck the back of my skull.

The frame where Kendra shoved me forward.

And the frame where Garrett stole the thumb drives from my unconscious body.

The relatives sitting on the sofas gasped, two of them standing up in horror and backing away from Marlene and Kendra as if they had contracted the plague.

"No... that's... that's doctored! That’s AI generated!" Kendra screamed, her voice hitting a hysterical, shrill pitch. "Mom! Tell them! Toby made that up! He's always hated us!"

"Be quiet, Kendra!" Marlene hissed, her face flushed crimson, her hands shaking violently as scotch spilled over the rim of her glass onto the Persian rug. She whirled on Grandma. "Mother, listen to me! Lee was trying to ruin us! He was feeding you lies about the trusts! He was trying to turn you against your own daughter!"

"Lies?" Arthur Vance opened his leather portfolio. "I have the certified banking warrants right here, Marlene. Meridian Family Services. The electronic signatures executed on October 14th, while Evelyn was under general anesthesia at St. Jude's Hospital. The three hundred and ninety-eight thousand dollars routed directly to purchase your condo in Miami."

"You forged my name while I was dying on an operating table," Grandma said, her voice shaking with righteous fury. "And when my grandson tried to protect me, you tried to crack his skull open and laugh over his bleeding body."

"It was Garrett's idea!" Kendra suddenly shrieked, pointing a manicured, trembling finger at her fiancé. "He said if we took the drives back and made Lee look like a fool, nobody would believe him! He brought the sap! He hit him, not me!"

"You little lying bitch!" Garrett roared, lunging toward Kendra. "You told me if Lee showed those papers to Vance, your mother would be disinherited and we wouldn't get a dime! You begged me to knock him out!"