The amendment history arrived through the appropriate legal process three days after the hearing. Mr. Collins called me to his office and explained that the records were still being reviewed, but one entry stood out. A request had been made to supplement the original account after additional information became available. The request itself did not establish wrongdoing, yet it raised a question about who had supplied the information and why the later version had been treated as more reliable than the earlier one.
Mr. Collins placed the relevant pages before me. The names associated with the request were partly obscured in the copy we had received, and the defense needed the complete record before drawing conclusions. One reference, however, was clear enough to identify a law firm that had communicated with the investigators during the period when the case was developing.
I recognized the firm's name immediately.
It was the Chicago firm where Olivia had obtained her internship under my identity.
For several seconds, I couldn't speak. The connection could have been innocent. A law firm might communicate with investigators for many reasons, and Olivia's internship did not automatically mean she had participated in any request involving the collision. Still, the coincidence was too important to ignore.
Mr. Collins watched me carefully. “Do you recognize the firm?”
“Yes. Olivia interned there.”
“Under your name?”
I nodded.
He made a note. “Then we need to establish the nature of the firm's involvement, the date of the communication, and whether Olivia had access to the relevant information. We cannot assume that her internship connected her to the amendment, but we must examine the possibility.”
I asked whether the firm had known that Olivia was using my identity. Mr. Collins said the available documents did not answer that question. The defense would need to determine who handled her application, which records were submitted, and whether anyone at the firm had communicated with the investigators about the collision.
I felt a cold unease spread through me. Olivia had spent years presenting herself as a promising young woman building a career in law. I had imagined her internship as the final proof that she had successfully taken the life I wanted. Now its connection to the amended report raised a different question: had she used her position to influence how the accident was investigated?
Mr. Collins immediately cautioned me against reaching that conclusion. He explained that the firm might have been contacted for an unrelated reason, or the reference could concern another person entirely. We would need the full communication and supporting testimony before making any allegation.
I agreed, though my mind kept returning to Olivia's expression in the courtroom when the first documents were introduced. She had looked frightened not simply because her identity might be exposed, but because she seemed to know what the records could reveal.
The defense submitted a formal request for the complete amendment history and the related communication. The prosecutor acknowledged the request and said the state would examine the firm's role before determining what additional evidence should be obtained. The judge directed the parties to preserve the relevant records and avoid approaching potential witnesses privately.
That evening, my mother called.
“Your father says you've found another way to attack Olivia,” she began.
“I've found a record connecting her internship firm to a communication in the investigation. I'm asking what the connection means.”
“You know how hard she worked to get that internship.”
I almost laughed. “She used my identity to get it.”
My mother fell silent.
“Did you know the firm had communicated with the investigators?” I asked.
“No.”
“Did Olivia tell you anything about the amendment?”
“I don't know what you're talking about.”
I heard the familiar shift in her voice. She was no longer asking me to stop because Olivia was fragile. She was trying to distance herself from a question she did not want to answer.
I told her that the investigators would determine what the communication meant and ended the call.
The following morning, Mr. Collins received confirmation that the law firm had been contacted during the relevant period, but the nature of the communication remained under review. The firm had retained some records associated with Olivia's internship, including administrative correspondence and documents related to her placement. Investigators would need to establish whether any of those materials overlapped with the accident investigation.
I asked whether Olivia could have accessed the records simply because she was an intern.
“Possibly, depending on the nature of the work she was assigned,” Mr. Collins said. “But access is not proof that she used or altered anything. We need to know what she could see, what she actually handled, and whether any communication can be attributed to her.”
His answer left me with more questions, but at least they were questions that could be investigated.
The prosecutor arranged an interview with a representative of the firm. The purpose was to establish why the firm had communicated with investigators and whether Olivia had been involved in any way. Mr. Collins advised me that I would not be present, and he asked me to remain available in case the investigators needed clarification about my original application or the records bearing my name.
During the following days, I tried to continue my ordinary routine. I worked, cooked, and answered messages from friends who knew only that I was dealing with a difficult court case. I didn't tell them about the new lead. I had learned how quickly a partial fact could become a rumor, and I refused to contribute to that process.
Then Ethan called.
“You need to stop asking about the firm,” he said without greeting me.
I was standing in my kitchen with a mug in my hand. “Why?”
“Because you don't understand how these things work. A law firm communicates with people all the time. You're going to turn an ordinary email into some conspiracy.”
“I haven't accused anyone of a conspiracy.”
“You're making Olivia look guilty before she's had a chance to explain herself.”
“Then let her explain herself.”
He exhaled sharply. “She can't tell you everything.”
The mug felt suddenly heavy in my hand.
“Why not?”
He didn't answer.
“Ethan, what does she know?”
“Nothing you can prove.”
He ended the call.
I reported the conversation to Mr. Collins, including the exact wording. He noted that Ethan's response suggested concern about the firm's involvement, but he refused to interpret it as proof that my brother knew about the amendment. We would wait for the interview results.
Two days later, the firm provided additional records. Mr. Collins reviewed the available material and told me that it established a more specific connection between the internship and the investigation, although some details remained confidential while the inquiry continued. He could not yet explain everything, but he said the investigators now had grounds to ask Olivia direct questions about the period in which the amended report was requested.
I felt my pulse quicken.
“Does it prove she was involved?”
“Not yet,” he replied. “It establishes that the connection deserves examination. That is all we can responsibly say.”
The next hearing was scheduled for the following week. In the meantime, Olivia's attorney requested clarification about the scope of the investigation, and the prosecutor agreed to provide the information required by the applicable procedures. The case was moving forward, but neither side had yet presented a complete account of the amendment.
On the morning of the hearing, Olivia arrived with my mother. She looked composed until she noticed the folder in Mr. Collins's hands. Her gaze remained fixed on it as we took our seats.
The judge asked the prosecutor to summarize the progress of the inquiry. The prosecutor confirmed that the amendment history had been obtained and that the law firm was cooperating with requests for information. He did not identify Olivia as responsible for anything, and he emphasized that the investigation remained ongoing.
Mr. Collins asked permission to question the relevance of the firm's communication to the disputed identification. The judge allowed the defense to outline its concerns, provided the attorneys avoided asserting facts that had not been established.
Mr. Collins explained that the defense had discovered a connection between the firm where Olivia interned and a communication associated with the amended report. He requested access to the remaining records and the opportunity to question witnesses who could clarify the connection.
The prosecutor did not object to further inquiry. The judge ordered the parties to continue preserving the documents and set a date for the next evidentiary hearing.
When the session ended, Olivia turned toward her attorney and whispered urgently. Her attorney listened, then told her something that made her face go rigid. My mother reached for her hand, but Olivia pulled away.
I didn't approach her. I didn't need to.
As we left the courtroom, Mr. Collins told me that the next stage would focus on establishing who had supplied the information used in the amendment and whether that person had any connection to the original identification. The law firm was one possible link, but the investigators were still examining other sources.
That night, I returned to my notebook and added the new development beneath the earlier entries. The university letter had shown how Olivia's identity misuse began. The repair-shop records had raised questions about Ethan's actions after the collision. The amendment history now connected the investigation to the law firm that had benefited from the stolen identity.
The pattern was becoming harder to dismiss as a series of unrelated misunderstandings.
But the most important question remained unanswered: had Olivia simply stolen my future and then watched my family sacrifice me, or had she used the career built on my name to help shape the story that sent me toward prison?
Click here to continue reading: PART 15: Olivia’s Internship Records Revealed a Communication She Had Never Mentioned, and My Mother Finally Realized the Secret Was No Longer Contained
My Family Ordered Me to Take the Blame, but One Envelope on the Defense Table Threatened Everything They Had Built
Part 14 of 20
