The Taylor Parker Case | Part 1
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On the morning of October 9th, 2020, state trooper Alonzo Chavers was on his usual patrol in DeKalb, Texas. He cruised along US-82, humming the tune to a song he couldn't quite place, when his day became anything but ordinary. Just after 9.30 a.m., he noticed a 2009 Toyota Corolla driving erratically and tearing down the highway with its hazards on.

Around the same time, at 9:36 a.m., 911 dispatcher Katie Jimenez received a distressing call. The caller was hysterical, shouting that a state trooper was following her car and she needed an ambulance. Puzzled, Jimenez pressed the woman for more details, unprepared for the response she would get. The woman cried that she needed to get to Idabel, a suburb in Oklahoma almost 40 minutes away, because she had just started giving birth.

Officer Chavers immediately flagged the Corolla down and forced the woman to pull over onto the side of the road. As he approached, he noticed that she was waving at him frantically. Once he got to the driver's side door, he understood why. There, on the woman's lap, lay a tiny, bloodied baby girl. She couldn't have been more than a few hours old. The umbilical cord was still attached to her belly and trailing out of the woman's yoga pants.

Officer Chavers was stunned by the sight, but he didn't have time to gawk. The woman screeched that she had given birth about half an hour ago while driving and now her baby wasn't breathing. She begged the trooper to put them in his car and take them to Idabel.

not nearby Titus Regional Medical Center or St. Michael's, Idabel. She flat out refused to go anywhere else. The woman said that her previous child had been harmed at St. Michael's and explained that her doctor was in Idabel, insisting that she would drive there herself if she had to. Officer Chavers complied with her desperate request and called an ambulance, updating dispatch as he did.

Thankfully, help arrived sooner than expected. Amanda Perkey, who worked at the nearby middle school, rushed to their aid. She was trained as a nurse and immediately began performing CPR on the tiny newborn. Amanda was joined by an off-duty EMT who noticed the commotion. Together, they cut the woman's bloodied yoga pants with a pair of trauma shears and peeled them off to check for any complications.

A dark red mass of tissue fell to the floor of the car. It was her placenta. Eventually, the ambulance arrived and loaded the poor woman and her baby onto a gurney. Officer Chavers returned to the Corolla to document the afterbirth as she yelled in the background, pleading to be taken to Idabel. Oddly, there was no blood on the driver's seat. Part 1: Wild, Free, and Wicked

Taylor Renee Parker, a 27-year-old from Sims, Texas, was no ordinary woman. According to her Facebook bio, the self-described wildflower was wild, free, and wicked with a glow that was never meant to be tamed.

her professional skills were aplenty. She stated on her profile that she was an amateur photographer, office administrator, and medical assistant with knowledge of phlebotomy, or drawing blood for laboratory tests. However, above all, her social media posts made it clear that she was a mother. Taylor cherished her children but, for reasons unknown to her, she always seemed to be unlucky in love.

In 2009, when she was just 17 years old, she fell pregnant with her daughter, Emerson. The teen moved in with her then boyfriend, 19-year-old Donald Whiteside. However, after finding out that he was being unfaithful, she left and went on to raise their little girl without him. Things started looking up for Taylor in 2011 when she married her first husband, Tommy Wakase, who stepped in as Emerson's only father figure.

The couple had a son together whom they named Trey, but infidelity saw their relationship crumbling. This time, Taylor was to blame. After getting gastric bypass surgery in 2014, she relished her newfound confidence, too much perhaps. Tommy eventually caught her with another man and filed for divorce in July of 2017.

He managed to win custody of Trey, who was just four years old, but remained committed to little Emerson and swore that she was always welcome in his home. Tommy's love for her daughter did little to comfort Taylor, though. She wanted a man in her life, and she simply couldn't wait.

Soon after the separation from her first husband, Taylor met her second, Hunter Parker. The couple lost themselves in a whirlwind romance and married in March of 2018, just 11 days after the divorce with Tommy was finalized. Unfortunately for Taylor, she would soon be facing another one. Her relationship with Hunter grew turbulent and though she tried her damnedest to save their marriage, it ended just as quickly as it began.

The pair divorced in April of 2019 after being married for less than a year. Taylor kept Hunter's surname, though she sometimes used that of her father, Mark Morton. Once again, the mother of two found herself alone, but she refused to give up on finding love. As it turns out, she wouldn't have to look too hard or too long. Within weeks of her divorce from Hunter, Taylor met Wade Griffin at a rodeo.

The 27-year-old giant was every country girl's dream. His burly body towered above her,

decked out with blue jeans, button-down shirts, cattleman hats, and a heavy gold cross perpetually hanging from his neck. He was also a hard worker. On top of working as a supervisor at Atlas Roofing and Dangerfield, Wade also managed his family's farm, Circle G Farms, and Wild Hog Buying Facility. The Griffins had made a business out of Texas' feral hog problem back in 2014 by buying the beasts from local trappers.

The hogs are then sold to a certified wild animal processing facility, where they are slaughtered for meat exports, heart valve transplants for humans, and food for dogs. Wade took great pride in the business his grandparents started, which Taylor found particularly endearing. The country-loving couple instantly hit it off. Their relationship blossomed over social media and, before long, Taylor was besotted with Wade.

She went out of her way to help him with his duties at Circle G Farms, hauling hay bales and striking hog deals. She even started making arrangements to open a processing facility of their own, which she planned to bankroll. You see, Taylor had a hefty inheritance coming her way, but we'll get to that later.

The couple's relationship was still in its infancy at that time. However, it was about to get far more serious. Four months after meeting Wade in August of 2019, the mother of two found out that she was about to be a mother of four. Taylor was pregnant with twins, and she couldn't wait to share the news with Wade. Unfortunately, her elation was short-lived. Soon after telling her boyfriend that he was going to be a dad, tragedy struck.

A few weeks into the pregnancy, Wade got a text from Taylor's father, Mark, saying that he had totaled his brush hog. The 27-year-old farmer was on a job, but luckily, a family friend named Jace offered to help Mark tow his wrecked rotary mower. Taylor decided to join the men just in case, which turned out to be a grave mistake.

While Jace and Mark were hooking the brush hog up, a winch suddenly snapped and the towing cable whipped her in the stomach. Sadly, she miscarried. After losing the twins, Taylor was devastated. She leaned on Wade for support, who gently helped her come to terms with their loss. Dealing with such grief in such a fresh relationship wasn't easy, but it ended up bringing them closer together.

Taylor began to confide in Wade about her family life, opening up about their fortune and the feud that came with it.

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Taylor had told Wade that she had come from old money early into their relationship. The revelation was certainly a comfort, but he didn't ask too many questions. Being the new boyfriend, Wade felt it was none of his business. Besides, he didn't want her to think that he was after her money. Taylor, on the other hand, was ready to tell all. The mother of two revealed that she was set to inherit millions of dollars as an heir to the Blackburn Syrup fortune.

Wade knew the brand well. Blackburn's is a household name in Texas, where the multi-million dollar family-owned company manufactures syrups, jellies, and preserves. Taylor hadn't yet gotten access to her inheritance. However, she was by no means broke. She explained that her family also owned acres of land housing rich oil and gas wells, which produced millions in royalties that poured in constantly. There was one problem, though.

Her mother, Shona Pryor, hated her, and she was the executor of their fortune. Taylor laid bare their strained relationship, explaining that her mother had never wanted her and resented her since birth. Shona mistreated her throughout her childhood and, now that she was an adult, it had only gotten worse. Wade's heart ached for his troubled girlfriend.

Her story proved that money truly couldn't buy happiness. Even so, Taylor refused to let her mother stop her from living her life. Soon after coming clean to Wade, she visited her grandparents to discuss the upkeep of one of their family's properties in Brian's Mill, Texas.

Years earlier, her grandfather had fallen ill and become too feeble to farm his land. Taylor had been going out there periodically to help maintain the property, but it quickly became apparent that she couldn't do it alone. However, now that she had Wade by her side, she felt that they could take it on together. Taylor told her grandparents that they would care for the land and bring it back to its original beauty.

The elderly couple was thrilled by the offer, agreeing to open an account in her name with the proceeds from their royalties. With their blessing, Taylor immediately got to work and asked Wade to do an estimate on fencing the property and clearing the land of its overgrown bushes and saplings. He came back with a quote for $50,000, but that was pocket change to Taylor.

She gave Wade the go-ahead and encouraged him to hire his longtime friend, Juan, to help tackle the enormous task. However, after she made the first payment, Shona saw to it that she couldn't make any more. Taylor called Wade in a panic, crying that her mother had found out about their project and shut it down. Apparently, Shona had decided that Wade was just out to get their money, prompting her to empty Taylor's account and made off with $3 million in royalties.

Wade was forced to front the bill for the work they had done and pay Juan the wages he was promised. Fortunately for Juan, Wade had a big heart. More so, he had Taylor's word that she was good for the money. He had seen the texts and emails between her family, legal representatives, and banks. Wade knew that Taylor wasn't the problem. It was her mother. Shona had left the young couple stressed and financially strapped, which was taking a toll on their relationship.

Taylor always managed to get access to her royalties and inheritance, smoothing things over, but only for a time. The couple lived well above Wade's means on the promise of million-dollar wire transfers that would pay off the loans Taylor encouraged him to take out.

He financed a $29,000 side-by-side ATV, a 92,000 heavy-duty pickup truck for himself, a Nissan Altima for his mother, and about 20 head of cattle for just over $21,000.

However, thanks to Taylor's vindictive mother, the money never cleared, and the couple quickly became caught up in a vicious cycle of debt. As financial pressures mounted, Taylor would organize wire transfers, Wade would put money he didn't have into his farm in their future, and her mother would sabotage them, leaving the couple more stressed and in more debt. Then, when their relationship was at its rockiest, Shona did the unthinkable. Part 3: Flesh and Blood

Wade hadn't yet met Shona, but ever since Taylor told him about their family fortune, the woman seemed determined to torment her daughter. She harassed Taylor online and sent threatening texts and emails as Mandy Boyd or Mandy Body, her frequently misspelled alias. Soon, Shona started messaging Wade too, bad-mouthing Taylor and blaming her for their money problems, but he wasn't convinced.

Wade paid no mind to Shona's outlandish rants until she did something he couldn't ignore.

One day, Taylor was approached at her home by a mysterious man who claimed to be a high-ranking law enforcement agent. He introduced himself as Coburn and explained that he had come with bad news. Her life was in danger. It seemed that Shona hadn't just taken the royalties out of spite. The deranged woman had used the $3 million she stole to put out a hit on Taylor, her own flesh and blood.

Worse, Coburn warned that she had hired members of the Mexican mafia to see it through. Taylor's skin prickled with fear the moments those words left the agent's lips. Her own mother wanted her dead, and her 10-year-old daughter, Emerson, could very well become collateral damage. She had no choice but to seek sanctuary from Wade, who opened his home to them. How could he not? The mother and daughter had nowhere else to go.

After moving into Wade's tiny cabin in Sims, Texas, Taylor felt safe for the first time since Coburn showed up at her doorstep. Of course, it didn't last long. Taylor quickly realized that Shona had somehow managed to hack into their phones. She knew their every movement, from what they had planned for the day to where they drank their morning coffee. It dawned on Taylor that Wade's home was no longer a haven from her hateful mother.

she had to distance herself from her boyfriend, lest he get caught in the crossfire, literally. So, she turned to a friend who hadn't yet made it onto Shona's radar, Angela Pate, a chiropractor, and the wife of Wade's boss at Atlas Roofing, Roger Pate. The Pates put their own lives on the line and bravely let Taylor hide out at their home, despite the nightmares it brought them when the sun went down. That said, the police certainly didn't leave them to fend for themselves.

Taylor told Angela that Coburn had cameras trained on their home at all times and had stationed undercover officers outside on round-the-clock security detail. Of course, they had to remain discreet to keep from blowing Taylor's cover. Angela never saw the officers herself, but Taylor frequently texted them to make sure that the coast was clear when she ventured outside. It was a traumatic time for Taylor and the Pates, but thankfully, it would soon be over.

Just in time for the festive season, their ordeal came to a dramatic end. Coburn had been keeping Taylor abreast throughout the investigation into her mother's murder-for-hire plot. In late 2019, he gave her one final update

Taylor heard that Shona had paid a middleman to help her strike a deal with the Mexican mafia. They likely would have succeeded had it not been for the dedicated investigators working the case. The unscrupulous pair were eventually tracked down and caught, but not without putting up a fight first. They became embroiled in a desperate shootout with the FBI unit. Out of ammo and options, they were captured and taken into custody. That's when things went very, very wrong.

As the feds kept the incident out of the media, Coburn was tasked with breaking the news to Taylor. He reluctantly told her that her mother had hung herself while incarcerated. It seemed that Shona would sooner face death than the consequences of her own actions. Taylor was strangely at peace with her mother's suicide. With Shona finally out of the picture, she was free. And so was her inheritance. Her financial freedom couldn't have come soon enough either.

Taylor confided in Angela that she feared Wade was going to leave her after her mother's meddling had left him drowning in debt. She needed to make it up to him, and nothing short of a grand gesture would suffice. Taylor told Wade that she wanted to invest in property together. It was an apology of sorts, but more so. It was a symbol of the life she sought to build with him. Wade was hesitant at first. After just seven months of dating Taylor, he had a lifetime of problems to deal with.

That said, Shona had been the source of their hardships, and now she was gone. Taylor was free to spend her inheritance as she pleased, and if that meant purchasing property, then he knew the perfect place. Part 4. The Promise of Pecan Point

Wade told Taylor about a piece of land along the Red River in McCurtain County, Oklahoma, that had recently been put up for sale. He had worked for the owners in the past and, frankly, it was a dream come true for them both.

The property was home to sprawling pastures, herds of cattle, a bountiful pecan grove, and plenty of possibilities. It was called Pecan Point. In early December of 2019, Taylor reached out to Rusty Lowe, the real estate agent who represented the owners of the property. Their asking price was a whopping $4.7 million, but with Shona out of the way, money was no longer an object for the heiress.

Taylor and Wade made the hour-and-a-half drive up to Pecan Point shortly afterward, and immediately fell in love with it. Wade was especially captivated by the property, marveling at its nearly 2,000 acres of rich soil, abundant irrigation reservoirs, and lush Bermuda grasses.

It wasn't just the land that got him excited though, it was the potential to profit from it. Aside from pecan and cattle production, Pecan Point had particularly lucrative recreational rights for hog, turkey, duck, deer, and dove hunting. In short, the investment was a no-brainer.

Taylor was itching to make an offer, but as she was just 26 going on 27 years old at the time, she had to prove to Rusty that she had the means to purchase Pecan Point first. That was the easy part. Getting the banks to release her inheritance, however, proved to be far more difficult. Taylor explained that she was an heir to the Blackburn Syrup fortune before proffering $3.5 million and whipping out a pen ready to sign the contract.

Though Rusty was more than satisfied with her offer and the generous commission he would make from the deal, Taylor's word alone wasn't enough. He needed $200,000 upfront once the contract had been signed as a show of good faith, which is known as an earnest payment. Of course, the heiress agreed without a second thought and eagerly scrawled her name on the contract alongside Wade's. Interestingly, she hyphenated her ex-husband's surname with that of her new boyfriend.

Wishful thinking, perhaps? We'll soon find out. The young couple was elated with their new venture. However, it wasn't enough for the heiress. With her family's fortune finally at her fingertips, she wanted more.

Taylor decided to acquire the adjoining land too, which saw the deal ballooning to a staggering $20 million. A purchase of that magnitude would have any buyer quaking in their boots, but not Taylor. She wanted to celebrate and what better time to do so than Christmas?

On December 25th, Taylor and Wade arrived at the Griffin household and broke the good news to his family with pecan-adorned Christmas cards. Taylor gleefully announced that they would never have to worry about finding hunting leases again. As avid hunters, the Griffins were ecstatic, and so was Taylor. You see, although Wade's family initially adored her, they quickly grew weary of her family drama. More so, they grew suspicious.

Wade had gotten into a lot of debt despite Taylor's best efforts and having not experienced Shona's interference firsthand. The Griffins doubted the existence of her generational wealth altogether. Wade's mother was particularly distrustful of Taylor. From the very beginning, Connie Griffin had found it odd that she didn't have custody of her son, Trey, especially considering the courts tend to favor the mother in divorce proceedings. Taylor insisted that it wasn't her fault.

She explained that a county judge had cornered her in the hospital while she was recovering from a stroke and convinced her to sign her rights away. Connie didn't believe a word of it and, frankly, I don't blame her. Shona's meddling had made Taylor look like a penniless fraud who lied her way into Wade's heart. However, that all changed when she made the million-dollar offer on Pecan Point and had the signed contract to prove it.

In fact, the Griffins began to feel guilty for doubting her in the first place, until things started to go awry, that is. In a shocking turn of events, Shona resurfaced just in time to ruin Christmas. Yes, Taylor's supposedly dead mother. Part 5. The Ghost of Christmas Past Suicide is a tragedy unlike many others. However, Taylor and Wade couldn't help but relish the radio silence that followed Shona's death.

Unfortunately, their respite from her harassment was short-lived. Coburn contacted Taylor just after Christmas with an unwelcome confession. He had lied to her. Shona was alive. The agent explained that, after all the stress and suffering she had caused them, he felt that they would be better off not knowing that she was still out there. Taylor was understandably livid. All Coburn had done was put her finances and her life at risk.

She blasted the agent for breaking her trust and warned him never to contact her again. That was the last time Taylor heard from Coburn. Not that it mattered. The damage had been done. Had she known that her tormentor was alive and kicking, she would have kept the Pecan Point deal under wraps. It was too late now. All Taylor could do was hope and pray that Shauna would remain in the shadows. Of course, her prayers went unanswered.

That December, the young couple went to a Christmas get together at Taylor's aunt's house, Molly Glass. The moment they walked through the door, they were met with a strange silence and Shona's icy glare. Her apparent resurrection had clearly dampened the Christmas spirit and the atmosphere was awkward to say the least.

Taylor whisked Wade away into one of the back rooms to wrap gifts. In truth, she sought shelter from her mother's watchful eyes, but a door wasn't enough to protect them. Shona barged in seconds later and ordered the couple to stop hiding and join the family outside. "No, hey, nice to meet you." Taylor immediately busied herself introducing Wade to her family, saving her mother for last. After a cautious introduction, the couple handed out their gifts and promptly left.

That wasn't what they signed up for. Still, the unplanned meeting turned out to have a silver lining. On one hand, it had rattled the couple. On the other, Wade finally realized that Shona was every bit the monster Taylor had made her out to be. Truthfully, he had started to doubt his girlfriend's stories, but not anymore. Things had been looking up for the young couple after Shona's supposed suicide.

Now, however, they feared the worst. They were right to worry. In the months following the Pecan Point deal, Taylor ran into roadblock after roadblock as she tried to access her funds for the earnest payment. And Rusty wasn't impressed. The heiress felt compelled to arrange a $7 million wire transfer from her inheritance to prove that she was serious about the purchase. It never came through.

Taylor scrambled to make another plan, telling Rusty that she would get the funds from the royalties her family made off their oil and gas leases instead. She provided him with the necessary paperwork as proof and put him in touch with Shelley Lynx, a representative from Shell Western Global, an international energy and petrochemical corporation. Astoundingly, that money never cleared either, and Taylor started to panic that the deal would fall through.

She hastily wrote two separate checks for $150,000 each and made them out to Rusty, but was forced to take them back not long afterward. She called the real estate agent to apologize, explaining that the bank advised her that such sums of money must be wired. At that point, Taylor knew very well that Shona had somehow taken her finances hostage. It couldn't have been a coincidence.

Her suspicions were inevitably confirmed when her mother started harassing the couple again. Shona gleefully admitted to sabotaging the Pecan Point deal and mocked the couple for their attempts at building a better life. Exacerbated, Taylor tried to outsmart her mother and turned to her uncle Butch for help. As a multi-million dollar landowner, price tags meant little to him. Sure enough, he offered to simply give her the $20 million she needed for the deal.

However, even a land mogul such as Butch couldn't have the small fortune transferred overnight. Rusty would have to wait. In the meantime, the estate agent continued to verify Taylor's funds and attempted to contact Butch himself, but by then, the heiress was sick of being discredited. Taylor scolded him for prying and had Shelley Links follow up with a particularly hostile email.

It read,

Thankfully, the verification form reassured Rusty that, despite the roadblocks, the deal was at least moving forward, albeit at a snail's pace. His reassurance, however, was not shared by the Griffins. Part 6: Intended by God Wade's family was fed up with Taylor at that point. They had a reputation to uphold in Sims as both neighbors and business owners. Thanks to Taylor, that reputation was ruined.

She convinced Wade to buy things he couldn't afford and take out loans he couldn't pay off. Many of those dealers had been family friends with the Griffins. Emphasis on "had been." Of course, it wasn't just Wade's relatives who were disillusioned with Taylor. He was too. The Pecan Point deal seemed nothing more than a pipe dream, and most of the items he had financed at her behest were repossessed, including the car he had bought for his mother.

Taylor made Wade look like a fool and, once again, the money she promised was nowhere to be seen. By January of 2020, he was all but done with their relationship. Taylor, on the other hand, wasn't. The heiress felt she was being unfairly punished for problems she didn't cause. She loved Wade. She wanted to marry him.

Now, thanks to Shona, he wouldn't even touch her. Taylor knew that it would take a miracle to fix what her mother had broken. Interestingly, that's precisely what she got. One month later, Taylor fell pregnant. A strange calm washed over the 27-year-old heiress. She knew that this baby would bring her and Wade closer together. It had to. Taylor excitedly texted her friend, Angela Pate, gushing about the news and asking for advice on how to tell Wade

The chiropractor was stunned. You see, months earlier, Taylor had confided in her that she had a partial hysterectomy five years ago. Was it even possible to fall pregnant after that? Angela wasn't sure, but she wasn't an obstetrician either. She encouraged her friend to take a few pregnancy tests before breaking the news to Wade. Taylor already knew she was pregnant, texting that it was intended by God. However, she agreed to the tests just to be safe.

A few weeks later, Wade found out that he was going to be a father. Taylor expected a wholesome reaction, reminiscent of those filling her Instagram feed. It was anything but. Wade's face fell. His finances were a mess. Taylor's inheritance was all tied up, and their relationship was crumbling. A baby was the last thing they needed, but it was coming, whether he liked it or not.

He agonized over finding the money to support a child. However, his worries were promptly put to bed when Taylor showed him text messages from her other aunt, Katie Jo.

Her family was subdividing their land and they decided to give some of it to the expecting parents. In fact, Katie wanted to give them a few more acres than originally planned so that they could run cows on it. It was exactly what Wade needed to hear. With the promise of land and profits from cattle production, having a baby seemed far less daunting.

On March 14, 2020, just three days after the World Health Organization declared the COVID-19 outbreak a global pandemic, Taylor announced on Facebook that she and Wade were going to be parents. Their baby was due on September 22, and she simply couldn't wait. The heiress immediately got to work planning a gender reveal party with Stephanie Ott, the wife of Wade's colleague, Cody Ott.

The pair gushed over baby names, outfits, and, most importantly, plans for a bull or heifer calf to be brought out at the party in true country fashion. However, someone had to find out the baby's sex first, and that someone was Stephanie. Taylor handed her friend the envelope that held her precious secret and asked her to read it in the bathroom, lest her reaction give it away.

Stephanie gleefully obliged, ripping it open the moment the door closed. The document from the Northeast Texas Women's Clinic stated that it was a girl, but something wasn't right. The gender confirmation document was dated 2016, four years ago.

She brought it to Taylor's attention, who mused that it had to have been a typo. Sure enough, after contacting the clinic about it, the heiress told Stephanie that there had been 324 misprints. With that cleared up, the women could finally go ahead with the gender reveal party. Part 7: Talk of the Town That same month, friends and family gathered at Cody and Stephanie Ott's home to celebrate the young couple as they found out the gender of their little bundle of joy.

Everyone was there, including Taylor's father, Mark Morton, daughter Emerson, and her daughter's grandmother. The atmosphere was abuzz with anticipation as a black calf was led outside. It was a heifer adorned with a big pink bow. Wade and Taylor were having a girl.

Cheers filled the air as the couple's loved ones rejoiced at the news. Taylor immediately posted pictures of the ceremonial calf to Facebook, memorializing their special moment. It was a heartwarming day, even for Wade. The nervous new father was thrilled by the thought of having a little girl. He even had a name in mind, Clancy Gale. Taylor was over the moon. Finally, despite Shona's best efforts, Wade seemed completely and utterly devoted to her.

The same, however, could not be said for those around them. Rumors began to circulate that Taylor was lying about her pregnancy because she wasn't showing yet. Of course, all women carry their babies differently, but it seemed that people just couldn't let the couple be happy, including the Griffins. Thanks to Shona, the trust Taylor had instilled within her boyfriend's family was destroyed.

prompting them to sow seeds of doubt within him. Wade didn't know who to believe. His family was convinced that Taylor was faking the pregnancy to tie him down. However, she certainly seemed pregnant to him. Taylor spent every morning in their commode, nauseous and vomiting, and checked in at her OBGYN clinic regularly. Wade took off work and tried his best to be there for her appointments, but with COVID-19 ravaging the nation, he never made it further than the waiting room.

Taylor made a point to share the updates and sonograms on social media, filling him in on her blood work results and doctor's recommendations. She didn't want him to miss out on their milestones and gushed about little Clancy Gayle's excited movements when her daddy got home from work. However, when Taylor put Wade's hands on her belly to feel his daughter's kicks, he felt nothing. Or did he?

Confused, the expectant father confided in his boss, Roger Pate, who promptly dismissed his concerns. Roger explained that he and his wife, Angela, had felt the baby move themselves and reassured Wade that Taylor's belly simply wouldn't show like smaller or petite women. With Roger's words of wisdom, Wade resolved to ignore the rumors. Sims was a small town and its residents loved a good scandal, regardless of its truth.

Sure enough, weeks later, Taylor's pregnant belly was showing and the gossip subsided until Shona reared her ugly head again, that is. In early April, Taylor emailed Angela a pregnancy verification letter and asked her to print it out. The chiropractor was happy to help but couldn't resist taking a sneak peek. The document stated that the patient was due on September 22nd, just as Taylor had said. However, Angela noticed a concerning discrepancy.

The nurse who signed off on the letter was also listed as the patient who tested positive for the pregnancy. She immediately pointed it out to Taylor, who broke down crying. Shona had done it again. Taylor tearfully explained that her mother had eyes and ears everywhere and likely had the document altered by a mole at the clinic. She whimpered that, despite her obvious baby bump, Shona made sure that no one would believe she was pregnant.

Angela pitied her friend, but in truth, she now doubted it herself. Then she got an email from Mandy Boyd. The lengthy rambling message was riddled with spelling mistakes and read like a villain's soliloquy trope. The writer claimed to be Taylor's mother and ranted about ruining the poor girl's life. "Don't try to be a mother figure to her. I did an amazing job making her look bad. It took time and accurately planning my every step of the way," she gloated.

Angela felt sick to her stomach. She was furious that a mother could be so cruel to her own daughter. More so, she was angry at herself. You see, Angela still had doubts despite Shona's email. So, she decided to put them to rest once and for all. Days later, she took Taylor to Walgreens and bought several pregnancy tests. All of them came back negative except one which was inconclusive.

Determined, Angela drove Taylor straight to another clinic in nearby Mount Pleasant called Health Express to get a urine test. She waited in the parking lot, adhering to the COVID-19 restrictions while watching her friend enter the clinic with nothing but her wallet.

When Taylor eventually returned, she had an odd look on her face and an unfolded, freshly printed document in her hand. They were lab results and, stapled to them, was a pregnancy verification letter similar to the one Shona had sabotaged. Angela read it herself, not knowing what to expect, and breathed a sigh of relief. There, clear as day, were the words "positive," "September 22nd," and "Taylor Renee Parker."

There was no denying it. Taylor was pregnant. Part Eight: The Unraveling With undeniable proof that she was pregnant, Taylor could finally immerse herself in the joys of carrying a child. But she had a few loose ends to tie up first, namely Pecan Point.

She couldn't handle the stress of battling the banks whilst in such a delicate condition. So, in late April, Taylor texted the estate agent, Rusty Lowe, and told him that the deal was off. The expectant mother spent the following months documenting her pregnancy on social media. She posted updates from her OBGYN, ultrasound pictures, dozens of baby bump selfies, and even a clip of little Clancy Gayle kicking in her belly.

To all her followers, it looked like Taylor was on cloud nine. In truth, all was not well behind closed doors. Wade was excited to be a father. However, the pressure to provide for both Taylor and a newborn was getting to him. The pecan deal was no more, and debt was draining his bank account. Taylor didn't help matters either. She wanted the kind of love you see in the movies, but Wade couldn't give it to her.

He simply didn't feel the same way she did, and he told her as much too. Around the same time, Taylor started encountering problems with her pregnancy. On July 9th, she posted an ultrasound picture on social media and proudly announced that Clancy Gayle weighed 2 pounds and 2 ounces. Worryingly, Taylor mentioned that her little girl's heartbeat was slower than usual, but reassured her followers with the quote, "She is tiny but fierce."

it came out that the heiress had developed a blood clot and was forced to go on blood thinners, leading her OB/GYN to recommend daily check-ins for at least a week or two. Taylor later confided in an old friend that Clancy Gale's heart was starting to suffer. According to her doctors, it was beating off rhythm and if it didn't improve, they would have to shock the newborn's heart at birth.

Clearly, the stress from the couple's loveless relationship had taken a toll on both Taylor and the baby, prompting her to ask Angela to intervene and tell him as much, lest she miscarry. That seemed to do the trick. Wade immediately cleaned up his act, and by their August maternity shoot, the couple seemed happier than ever. Wade was pictured cradling Taylor's very pregnant belly, his hand clasped by hers, and their fingers intertwined.

However, it turned out that there were some who couldn't stand to see them happy. Whilst Wade and Taylor prepared for the birth of Clancy Gale, others prepared for a miscarriage.

A few of the couple's so-called friends genuinely believed that Taylor was faking it. They were sure that, come September 22nd, she would pretend to lose the baby to save face. In fact, some outright blasted Taylor on Facebook about it in early September, prompting Wade to come to her defense. "'Some people I once called friends are going to look so stupid in the weeks to come,' he wrote."

Then, on September 16th, just six days before Taylor's due date, Wade received an anonymous text message warning him that she couldn't possibly be pregnant.

The texter told him that she had a partial hysterectomy and insisted that she was using old sonogram pictures from one of her previous pregnancies. It was so ridiculous, Wade almost laughed. He knew exactly who it was. Shona had gone silent after he and Taylor had patched things up, but clearly she simply couldn't resist raining on their parade. Sure enough, after that text, Mandy Boyd's malicious messages started up again.

This time, however, they would have far more dire consequences. At this point, dear listeners, I'm sure you're wondering why our story has centered around one woman and her desperate quest to clear her name. However, all is not what it seems. You see, today's tragic tale tells the story of not one woman, but two. Each twist and turn I've taken you through were hints of the horrors to come.

In part two, you'll see how the convergence of two women becomes the catalyst for a hog deal gone wrong, a calculated act of arson, a bomb threat, and a double homicide so vile, few could fathom how the perpetrator had the stomach to commit it. The question is, who?