I understand that.
But your parents were not thrown onto the street.
They chose to leave rather than accept a reasonable arrangement.”
“You changed the locks.”
“They became aggressive.”
“My father can barely open a medicine bottle.”
“They were trespassing after the transfer.”
Mara raised one hand before I could answer.
“Let him continue,” she said.
Daniel glanced at her, then at the phone recording on the table.
His confidence faltered.
The title investigator finally removed the contents of the second envelope.
There were copies of two loan applications, a business credit agreement, and a personal guarantee bearing my name.
My stomach dropped.
“What are those?”
“Applications submitted by Mercer Family Holdings,” the investigator said.
“The company used this property as collateral for a private loan.”
Lauren made a small choking sound.
Victoria turned toward Daniel.
“You told me the company had no debt.”
Daniel ignored her.
The investigator continued.
“The lender advanced three hundred and eighty thousand dollars.
The application includes financial statements attributed to Emily Carter, along with a guarantee that appears to contain her signature.”
Mara slid the guarantee toward me.
The signature looked convincing from a distance.
Daniel had copied the long downward stroke in my last name and the slight break between my first and last names.
But he had copied an older version from a passport renewal form.
I had changed the way I signed legal documents two years earlier after a corporate security review.
Daniel had been beside me when I practiced the new signature at our kitchen counter.
He had forgotten.
“Where did the money go?” I asked.
No one answered.
Lauren stared at Daniel.
“You said the house was paid for.”
“It was,” I said.
She looked at me, and for the first time her arrogance gave way to fear.
Daniel moved toward the documents.
The investigator placed his hand over them.
“Do not touch these.”
“You have no authority here.”
“I represent the title insurer that received the fraud report.
Counsel has also notified law enforcement.”
At the phrase law enforcement, Victoria sat down.
Daniel remained standing, but the color had left his face.
“This is a family disagreement,” he said.
“No,” Mara replied.
“A family disagreement is an argument over a holiday.
This involves an allegedly forged deed, a falsified notarization, identity misuse, and a loan secured against property your wife never transferred.”
Daniel turned on Victoria.
“She arranged the filing.”
His mother stared at him.
“You ungrateful little coward.”
“You knew what we were doing.”
“I knew you said Emily had agreed to help Lauren.”
