Chapter 5
The next morning, Rebecca arranged a meeting with a forensic accountant named David Lewis.
He was a quiet man with silver glasses and a patient manner.
He placed several financial records on the table.
Then looked at me.
"Mrs. Carter, I'm going to explain what we've found as clearly as possible."
I nodded.
"Please."
He pointed to the first document.
"The loan proceeds were deposited into an account belonging to N&M Property Solutions."
Angela frowned.
"N&M?"
David nodded.
"Nicole and Marcus."
My stomach tightened.
I looked at the account statement.
The deposit was listed clearly.
One hundred and eighty thousand dollars.
Money borrowed using my property.
My identity.
My signature.
Then David pointed to the next line.
"Within two weeks, most of the funds were transferred into a separate account."
I swallowed.
"Whose account?"
He looked at me.
"Nicole's business."
I stared.
"What business?"
"An online home decor company registered under her name."
I felt sick.
Nicole had told me she was starting a small decorating business.
She asked me for advice.
She borrowed my old sewing machine.
She requested introductions to suppliers.
I had encouraged her.
I thought she was working hard to build something of her own.
Now I discovered that the business had been financed with money connected to my house.
Without my permission.
"Did Marcus know?" I whispered.
David hesitated.
"The documents suggest he participated in the transfers."
I looked down.
Of course he did.
Angela crossed her arms.
"So Nicole knew the loan was in Mom's name?"
David answered carefully.
"We need to distinguish what the records show from what each person knew."
Rebecca nodded.
"But the transactions are enough to justify further investigation."
I took a breath.
"How much money is left?"
David studied the statements.
"Very little."
My heart sank.
"How much?"
"Less than twelve thousand dollars remained at the time of the latest statement."
I covered my mouth.
Nearly the entire loan had been spent.
Rebecca explained that some money appeared to have gone toward inventory.
Other payments covered advertising.
Rent.
Shipping.
And transfers whose purposes were still unclear.
I looked at the papers.
My husband and I had spent decades paying off that house.
We skipped vacations.
Drove old cars.
Saved every extra dollar.
Now my son and daughter-in-law had placed it at risk to finance a business they never asked me about.
I started crying.
Angela moved closer.
"Mama."
I shook my head.
"I don't understand."
My voice broke.
"Why didn't they just ask me?"
Rebecca waited.
Then I answered my own question.
"Because they knew I'd say no."
Angela squeezed my hand.
"Maybe."
I wiped my eyes.
No.
I knew.
Three years earlier, Marcus asked me to invest in a restaurant concept.
I reviewed the plan.
It didn't make financial sense.
I offered to help him improve the proposal.
He became furious.
He accused me of not believing in him.
Nicole stopped speaking to me for two months.
Now I wondered whether they'd decided that asking permission was the problem.
David continued reviewing the records.
Then he found a transfer that made him pause.
He leaned closer to the screen.
Rebecca noticed.
"What is it?"
He pointed.
"A payment to a company called Silverline Financial Services."
I frowned.
"What company?"
David opened a separate filing.
"According to the records, Silverline provides financial document preparation and consulting."
Angela looked toward Rebecca.
"Could they have prepared the loan paperwork?"
"Possibly," Rebecca said.
"We'll need to investigate."
David continued.
"The payment occurred three days before the loan application was submitted."
My stomach tightened.
I stared at the date.
Then remembered something.
Three days before that application, Marcus had visited me.
He brought groceries.
Fixed a leaking kitchen faucet.
And asked whether I still kept my important documents in Samuel's old filing cabinet.
I told him yes.
He smiled.
"Good. I want to make sure everything's organized."
I felt cold.
He hadn't been checking on me.
He'd been locating documents.
I told Rebecca.
She made detailed notes.
Then asked whether I'd ever given Marcus permission to copy my identification.
I swallowed.
"He had a copy of my driver's license."
"Why?"
"He said he needed it for insurance."
Rebecca nodded slowly.
"We'll document that."
After the meeting, Angela took me to lunch.
We sat in a quiet restaurant near the attorney's office.
I stared at my plate.
I couldn't eat.
Angela reached across the table.
"Mama, you need something."
I shook my head.
"I'm not hungry."
She sighed.
"Just a little soup."
I managed a small smile.
"You sound like me."
She laughed softly.
"Learned from the best."
For a moment, I remembered her as a little girl.
Standing in our kitchen.
Insisting I eat after Samuel's first hospitalization.
Even then, Angela had taken care of people.
Marcus had been different.
He was charming.
Confident.
Always certain someone would help him when things went wrong.
I used to think that confidence meant he'd become successful.
Now I wondered whether we'd protected him from consequences too often.
Angela noticed my expression.
"What are you thinking?"
I swallowed.
"About your brother."
She nodded.
"I figured."
I stared toward the window.
"Do you think I spoiled him?"
Angela hesitated.
Then answered honestly.
"I think you loved him."
My eyes filled.
She continued.
"And sometimes you rescued him when he needed to learn."
I looked at her.
She smiled sadly.
"But Marcus is grown now, Mama. His choices belong to him."
I nodded slowly.
That afternoon, Rebecca called with another update.
The lender had received our formal dispute.
Its fraud department was reviewing the loan documents and the collateral claim.
Rebecca had also requested that enforcement activity be paused during the investigation.
I felt relieved.
But she warned me that the process could take time.
"Mrs. Carter, we're going to protect your interests, but we need to be patient and thorough."
I nodded.
"I understand."
Then she mentioned another discovery.
The property records showed a second document filed several months earlier.
I felt my stomach tighten.
"What document?"
"A deed prepared for transfer."
I stared at the phone.
"Transfer to who?"
Rebecca paused.
"An entity called Carter Family Properties LLC."
My heart pounded.
"Who owns it?"
She took a breath.
"Marcus and Nicole."
I nearly dropped the phone.
They hadn't simply borrowed against my house.
They had apparently prepared to transfer ownership away from me.
And I suddenly understood why Nicole had been so confident when she told me I wasn't welcome.
She believed the house would soon belong to them.
May you like
What she didn't know was that Samuel had left another safeguard buried in his estate records.
And Rebecca had just begun searching for it.
