Chapter 7
"That's not my signature."
My voice shook as I stared at the deed in Uncle Raymond's hand.
He smiled.
"Of course it is."
I looked up.
"No."
He tilted his head.
"Maya, you're confused."
Something inside me snapped.
I was tired of that word.
Confused.
Ungrateful.
Difficult.
Unstable.
Every time I questioned my family, they acted as though I couldn't understand my own life.
I stepped closer.
"I'm not confused."
Raymond's smile faded.
I pointed toward the document.
"I never signed that."
He shrugged.
"Then take it up with your lawyer."
I looked toward the moving truck.
"Stop taking things out of the house."
He laughed.
"You don't give me orders."
I took a breath.
Then I remembered Renee's instructions.
Don't confront anyone physically.
Preserve evidence.
Let the legal process work.
I stepped backward.
Jasmine stood beside me.
She was recording the scene from a safe distance.
Arthur approached from the sidewalk.
"Raymond, this needs to stop."
My uncle turned sharply.
"Stay out of it."
Arthur looked at the movers.
"There's a dispute over the property."
One of the men stopped carrying a chair.
He looked uncomfortable.
Raymond raised his voice.
"I hired you to move furniture, not ask questions."
I looked at the man.
"Please don't remove anything else until ownership is verified."
He glanced toward his coworker.
Then they set the chair down.
Raymond's face turned red.
"You're making a scene!"
I stared at him.
"My mother said the same thing at graduation."
He froze.
I continued.
"Every time someone in this family gets caught doing something wrong, they accuse me of embarrassing them."
His jaw tightened.
I took a breath.
"But I'm not protecting your secrets anymore."
Raymond stepped closer.
"You have no idea who you're dealing with."
Jasmine moved beside me.
"Back up."
Arthur stepped between us.
"Enough."
For the first time, I saw him stand firmly against someone in my mother's family.
Raymond glared at him.
Then he turned toward the movers.
"Pack up."
They hesitated.
He snapped.
"Now!"
The men began collecting their equipment.
They didn't remove anything else.
Raymond climbed into his car.
Before leaving, he lowered the window.
"This isn't over, Maya."
I looked at him.
"You're right."
He stared.
Then I said, "Because now I'm going to find out exactly what you and Mom did."
He drove away.
My knees weakened.
Arthur caught my arm.
"You okay?"
I nodded.
But I wasn't.
I stood in front of Grandma's house, staring at the open doorway.
Her dining table remained near the porch.
Several boxes were stacked in the hallway.
I could see the old floral wallpaper.
The same wallpaper I helped her choose when I was fourteen.
Tears spilled down my cheeks.
Jasmine put an arm around me.
"We're going to fix this."
I swallowed.
"I hope so."
Later that afternoon, Renee obtained a copy of the disputed deed.
She reviewed the signature and recording information.
Then she looked at me.
"Maya, we're challenging this immediately."
I nodded.
"Okay."
She continued.
"The document contains irregularities."
My heart pounded.
"What kind?"
"The notary information and execution timeline need verification."
I swallowed.
"Does that mean it's fake?"
"We need a proper investigation, but there are serious reasons to question its validity."
I nodded.
Then she showed me the date.
I stared at it.
The deed was supposedly signed seven months earlier.
I remembered that week clearly.
I had been working double shifts at the campus library.
My mother had called and demanded that I come home to discuss my future.
I refused because I had an exam.
She became furious.
Then she said something strange.
"You'll regret making me handle everything myself."
At the time, I thought she was talking about family responsibilities.
Now I wondered whether she had been talking about the property.
I told Renee.
She made a note.
Then she asked, "Do you have records showing where you were on the date of the supposed signing?"
I thought carefully.
"I worked at the library."
"Can you obtain attendance records?"
I nodded.
"Yes."
She smiled.
"That could help."
I contacted my former supervisor.
He agreed to provide the relevant employment records through the proper process.
The records showed I had worked a full shift during the time the deed supposedly had been signed at a location more than an hour away.
It didn't prove every aspect of the case.
But it raised serious questions.
Then Renee discovered something else.
The notary listed on the deed had previously worked with Silver Gate Consulting.
My uncle's company.
My stomach tightened.
Another connection.
Another person who might have helped my family take what Grandma left me.
I sat in Renee's office and stared at the documents.
"How many people knew?"
She looked at me.
"We're still finding out."
I covered my face.
For years, my mother had told me I was foolish for trusting strangers.
Now I was learning that strangers weren't the people who hurt me most.
It was the people who knew exactly where I was vulnerable.
My mother knew I wanted her approval.
My uncle knew I feared confrontation.
Arthur knew I didn't want to destroy the family.
And all of them had benefited from my silence in different ways.
I took a breath.
"I'm done being quiet."
Renee nodded.
"Then let's keep moving carefully."
That evening, Arthur came to Jasmine's apartment.
He carried a small wooden box.
I recognized it immediately.
Grandma's recipe box.
My heart tightened.
"Where did you get that?"
He looked down.
"It was in the house."
I stared at him.
"Did you remove it?"
He nodded.
"Before Raymond arrived. I thought it might be safer with you."
I took the box.
The wood was scratched.
The brass latch was loose.
I remembered sitting beside Grandma while she wrote recipes on index cards.
Peach cobbler.
Cornbread.
Sweet potato pie.
I opened it.
The familiar handwriting made me cry.
Then I noticed an envelope tucked beneath the cards.
My name was written across the front.
MAYA.
I looked at Arthur.
"Did you know this was here?"
He shook his head.
"No."
My hands trembled as I opened it.
Inside was a small handwritten note.
MAYA, IF ANYONE TELLS YOU I DIDN'T WANT YOU TO HAVE THE HOUSE, ASK FOR THE BLUE FOLDER.
I stared at the words.
Then I read the next line.
IT CONTAINS THE ORIGINAL RECORDS AND THE NAME OF THE PERSON WHO HELPED ME PREPARE EVERYTHING.
My heart began pounding.
The blue folder.
I remembered it.
Grandma kept it in the bottom drawer of her bedroom dresser.
I looked at Arthur.
"Do you know where the blue folder is?"
His face changed.
Then he whispered, "Diane took it after Evelyn died."
I closed my eyes.
Of course she did.
I looked back at the note.
Grandma hadn't left me only a house.
May you like
She had left me a way to prove that she wanted me to have it.
And somewhere, my mother was holding the evidence that could expose everything.
