Chapter 3 - THE FORGED SIGNATUREI stared at the page so long that the words blurred.
Then I looked at Bella.
“Do you recognize this?”
She took the paper.
Her eyes widened.
“No.”
Josh stepped forward.
“Give me that.”
I pulled it away.
“No.”
He stopped.
Ashley suddenly looked sick.
Mom sat down on the edge of the bed.
“Luke…”
“What is this?”
Mom's lips parted.
Nothing came out.
I looked at the document again.
The header read:
BENNETT FAMILY ASSET TRANSFER AGREEMENT
My name appeared in the middle.
Luke Andrew Bennett
Below it was a signature.
My signature.
Almost perfect.
Except for one tiny detail.
I always crossed the “t” in my last name with a short upward flick.
The forged signature didn't.
I stared at Josh.
“Who forged this?”
“No one forged anything.”
“Then I signed it?”
Josh said nothing.
“Did I?”
“No.”
“Then who did?”
Ashley spoke quietly.
“It wasn't supposed to happen like this.”
That sentence detonated inside me.
“What wasn't?”
“The transfer.”
“What transfer?”
Mom stood.
“Luke, please.”
“No.”
I held the paper up.
“Explain this.”
Mom looked at Josh.
Josh shook his head.
Then Mom said:
“We thought you would agree.”
“Agree to what?”
“To using your house.”
I froze.
“My house?”
Bella stepped forward.
“Why would they use Luke's house?”
Josh finally snapped.
“Because he owns it outright!”
I looked at him.
He realized too late that he'd said too much.
“What are you talking about?”
Josh's voice became quieter.
“You have equity.”
“So?”
“We needed collateral.”
“For your mortgage?”
He nodded.
I laughed once.
“You tried to use my house as collateral for your debt?”
“It would've been temporary.”
“You forged my signature.”
“I didn't!”
“Then who did?”
He pointed at Ashley.
Ashley gasped.
“Don't you dare.”
“This was your idea!”
“You told me the paperwork was legal!”
“I said talk to Luke!”
“You said Mom was handling it!”
Mom suddenly shouted:
“STOP!”
Everyone went silent.
Her chest rose and fell.
For the first time, she looked old.
Not weak.
Just exhausted.
“I was trying to keep this family together.”
I stared at her.
“By stealing from me?”
“I was afraid.”
“Of what?”
“That Josh would lose everything.”
“So you decided I should?”
Mom started crying.
I didn't move.
Bella reached for my arm.
Then another detail caught my eye.
The document had a date.
Six weeks earlier.
That meant the cruise wasn't the beginning.
It was the latest chapter.
I looked at Josh.
“You planned this before the cruise.”
He didn't answer.
“You knew about the debt.”
Silence.
“You forged my signature.”
Silence.
“You tried to put my house up as collateral.”
Silence.
“And then you gave my cabin to Ashley.”
Ashley whispered:
“Luke…”
I turned to her.
“Why?”
She swallowed.
“Because we thought you would keep paying.”
“Keep paying for what?”
“The family.”
The words landed hard.
I stepped back.
“The family?”
She nodded.
“Mom said you'd never let anything happen to us.”
I stared at my mother.
She looked away.
That hurt more than anything.
Because suddenly every sacrifice I'd ever made looked different.
The tuition money I gave Josh.
The wedding deposit.
The emergency rent.
Mom's car.
Grandma's medical transport.
The family vacations.
Every time somebody said:
You're the reliable one.
Maybe it had never meant they trusted me.
Maybe it meant they had calculated me.
My phone buzzed.
A new message.
Same unknown number.
Attorney Daniel Harper:
You now have 24 hours to reimburse my client $17,340 in alleged damages.
I read it twice.
“Seventeen thousand?”
Bella frowned.
“Damages for what?”
I opened the attachment.
There was a list.
Cruise penalties.
Missed excursions.
Hotel expenses.
Travel costs.
Emotional distress.
Ashley was demanding money from me.
For a trip I had paid for.
A trip she had stolen my cabin from.
I laughed.
This time, it wasn't nervous.
It was disbelief.
Then I noticed the final paragraph.
Failure to pay will result in immediate legal action and disclosure of evidence regarding the cancelled reservation.
I read it again.
Evidence?
What evidence?
I looked at Ashley.
“What did you do?”
She said nothing.
Then Josh's phone buzzed.
He glanced at it.
His face drained of color.
“What?”
I asked.
He slowly looked up.
“The cruise line emailed us.”
“What did they say?”
He swallowed.
“They found something in the booking records.”
“Something about me?”
“No.”
May you like
He looked at Mom.
“Something about Ashley.”
