Chapter 12 - Twenty Years of LiesThe photograph changed everything.
Renata had known about my family long before she married Marcus.
That meant our meeting wasn't chance.
Her interest in the cottage wasn't sudden.
And her questions about money weren't curiosity.
She had been watching.
For years.
I showed the photograph to Marcus when he finally returned.
He looked at it.
Then sat down.
"Where did you get this?"
I told him.
He covered his face.
"She never told me."
"Do you know the man?"
He pointed.
"That's Victor Hale."
"The supposedly dead man."
"Yes."
"And the woman is Renata."
Marcus nodded.
"Why would she know him?"
"I don't know."
"Try."
He looked at me.
"I remember hearing his name when I was a kid."
"From whom?"
"Mom."
I sat.
"What did she say?"
"She said he was dangerous."
Then Marcus looked at Raymond.
"And that he had something to do with Grandpa."
Raymond nodded.
We needed the old Northstar files.
The next morning, we went to an archive facility.
Most of the records had been scanned.
Some were still on paper.
We found a folder marked:
ROSSI FAMILY / HAYES FAMILY / PRIVATE
Inside was a settlement agreement.
My father's name.
The Rossi family's name.
Victor Hale.
And one additional signer.
Patricia.
I read the agreement.
It stated that four million dollars had been placed into an escrow account.
The money was to remain untouched until a property dispute was resolved.
But the escrow account had vanished.
The money had disappeared.
Four million.
The same amount.
"Where did it go?"
Raymond flipped through the pages.
"There's an amendment."
It was signed two months later.
The escrow wasn't transferred to Northstar.
It was transferred to a trust.
A private family trust.
Owned by...
Patricia.
I stared.
"She took it?"
"No."
"Then why?"
Raymond shook his head.
"She was protecting it."
"From whom?"
"The Rossi family."
Marcus looked at me.
"Mom stole the money?"
"No."
Raymond interrupted.
"She froze it."
"For what?"
"For proof."
I looked at him.
"What proof?"
He pointed to a paragraph.
The funds were being held as security against fraudulent claims by the Rossi family.
That meant my father's debt had been deliberately inflated.
The four million wasn't stolen.
It had been placed into Patricia's control because someone feared the Rossi family would claim it.
And Renata was connected to that family.
"What does that make Renata?"
Raymond answered.
"An heir to a grudge."
That evening, Renata arrived.
She walked into the cottage without permission.
The new lock didn't stop her.
She used a locksmith.
I was furious.
"You broke into my house."
"I entered a property I have a financial interest in."
"You have no financial interest."
She smiled.
"Not yet."
"You've been lying to Marcus for years."
"You don't know what I told him."
"You knew Victor Hale."
Her smile disappeared.
"Where did you hear that name?"
"Patricia."
She took a breath.
"Your wife lied."
"About what?"
"Everything."
I stepped closer.
"My wife documented you."
"Your wife manipulated everyone around her."
"She knew about the money."
Renata's eyes changed.
"How much?"
I smiled.
"Enough."
She stepped closer.
"You found the trust."
"Yes."
"Then you know the condition."
"I know."
She whispered:
"Then you know you can't win."
I stared.
"Why not?"
"Because Marcus is already legally on my side."
"He's not."
"He signed."
"The signature was forged."
Her expression hardened.
"Prove it."
"I will."
She looked toward Raymond.
"You think your lawyer can save you."
Raymond said:
"He already has."
She laughed.
Then she pulled a document from her bag.
"Take a look."
It was a medical evaluation.
About me.
It claimed I was suffering from severe cognitive decline.
I stared.
"My doctor didn't write this."
"No."
"Then who did?"
"A doctor."
"A fake doctor?"
She smiled.
"A real doctor."
She leaned toward me.
"The law doesn't care whether you feel healthy."
My blood ran cold.
"You've already started the process."
"Of declaring me incompetent?"
"Yes."
"Based on forged medical evidence."
"Based on evidence."
She walked toward the door.
Then stopped.
"Forty-eight hours, Walter."
"I thought that was the deadline."
"It is."
"For what?"
She looked back.
"For you to surrender."
After she left, Raymond examined the report.
"This doctor exists."
"Can we challenge it?"
"Absolutely."
"Then why does she look so confident?"
He didn't answer.
He was reading the last page.
Then he looked up.
"Walter."
"What?"
"The doctor's signature isn't forged."
"Then what?"
"He actually examined you."
I froze.
"Impossible."
He turned the page.
There was a date.
Three months ago.
A clinic.
A room number.
And my signature.
I stared.
"I've never been there."
Raymond's voice became very quiet.
"Then someone went there pretending to be you."
I looked at the photograph of Renata.
The twenty-five-year-old woman beside Victor Hale.
She had spent twenty years preparing.
And suddenly I realized something far more frightening.
She hadn't planned this attack because she wanted my cottage.
She had planned it because she believed she was finally collecting a debt.
May you like
A debt she thought my family had owed hers for two decades.
And she wasn't going to stop until she got every dollar.
