Chapter 5 - Uncle Derek Starts Digging
Derek had always been the quieter brother.
Aaron reacted with emotion.
Derek reacted by collecting facts.
He requested the business records connected to Aaron’s family accounts.
Because the brothers’ construction company had originally funded Noah’s savings plan, Derek could review several transfers.
One payment immediately stood out.
Thirty-five thousand dollars had been withdrawn from Noah’s education account.
The money went to Ridgeway Youth Consulting.
The company had no website.
No office.
No employees.
Its registered address belonged to a storage facility.
The owner was Travis.
Derek found six more payments.
Each was labeled as educational planning, child transportation, or home safety improvements.
Noah had received none of those services.
The total exceeded $160,000.
Derek called Lena.
She answered in a whisper.
“Did you know Travis opened a company using Noah’s money?”
Silence.
Then she said, “You need to stop investigating us.”
“Us—or him?”
“He says those payments were legitimate.”
“For what?”
“He manages things I don’t understand.”
“You understand that your son’s account is empty.”
Her breathing changed.
Derek heard a door open in the background.
Travis’s voice came through the phone.
“Who are you talking to?”
The call ended.
Minutes later, Derek received a message from Lena’s number.
DO NOT CONTACT ME AGAIN.
He knew she had not written it.
Aaron wanted to call the police immediately.
Their attorney advised patience.
Financial fraud took time to prove, and Travis would claim the payments covered family services.
So Derek kept searching.
He found gambling transactions.
A luxury watch.
A deposit on a truck registered to Travis.
Then he discovered a payment to a private custody consultant.
The consultant had prepared a report claiming Aaron was an absent and emotionally unstable father.
The report included statements supposedly made by Noah.
Noah had never met the consultant.
His signature appeared at the bottom as a child’s handprint.
The image had been copied from a preschool art project.
Travis was building a false case to eliminate Aaron’s custody rights.
And Lena had signed the cover page.
Derek stared at her signature.
Either she was helping Travis—
May you like
Or Travis had found a way to make her too afraid to resist.
👉 Derek still needed proof of abuse, but Noah was about to send one message that changed everything.
