Chapter 5
Three days later, the first letter arrived.
It was hand-delivered.
No return address.
Just a plain white envelope with my name scrawled across the front in Helen’s loopy, aggressive handwriting.
I was in the kitchen making Leo’s pancakes when the doorbell rang. Marcus was there—he’d been posted at the house full-time since the party. He accepted the envelope, scanned it for threats, and brought it to me.
“For you, ma’am,” he said.
I took it.
I tore it open.
The letter was short.
Vicious.
You think you’ve won, you little gold-digger? You think you can take my son and my grandson away from me? You have no idea who you’re dealing with. I built this family. I made David who he is. And I will destroy you before I let you tear us apart. You’ll regret the day you ever crossed me. Everyone will know what you really are—a cold, heartless woman who values her money more than her own child. I’ll take everything from you. Everything.
H.
I read it twice.
Then I folded it carefully and put it in a folder I’d labeled EVIDENCE.
“Threats?” Marcus asked.
“Nothing I can’t handle,” I said.
But I was already thinking ahead.
Helen wouldn’t stop at letters.
She was too proud. Too angry. Too used to getting her own way.
She’d go for the thing that hurt most.
The company.
I called my head of legal that afternoon.
“Sarah,” I said when she picked up. “I need you to do a full audit of every contract David has signed in the last six months. Every single one. I don’t care how small. I want to know if Helen had access to any of them. If she pressured him into anything. If there’s anything she can use against us.”
“On it,” Sarah said. She was the best lawyer in the city. Ruthless. Brilliant. Expensive. Worth every penny.
Two hours later, she called back.
“We have a problem,” she said.
My stomach dropped.
“What kind of problem?”
“Six weeks ago,” Sarah said, “David signed a document. It’s a power of attorney. Limited scope. It gives Helen Carter the authority to act on his behalf in all financial and business matters related to his personal holdings.”
I closed my eyes.
Of course.
“Is it valid?” I asked.
“On its face, yes,” Sarah said. “Two witnesses. Notarized. David’s signature is genuine. But there’s good news. The POA only covers David’s personal assets. It doesn’t touch the company. It doesn’t touch the house. It doesn’t touch anything in your name.”
I let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding.
“What does it cover, exactly?”
“His investment portfolio,” Sarah said. “The cars he brought into the marriage. His father’s old watch collection. About two and a half million in total assets.”
“Chump change,” I said.
“Exactly,” Sarah agreed. “But here’s the thing. She’s already used it. Yesterday, she liquidated every single one of his investments. She emptied his personal bank accounts. She transferred everything—all two and a half million—into an offshore account in her maiden name.”
I stood up.
I paced the office.
“She stole from him,” I said.
“Technically,” Sarah said, “with the POA, she had the legal right to move the money. But we can argue undue influence. Coercion. Elder abuse isn’t the only kind of abuse the courts recognize. If we can prove she manipulated him into signing that document—lied to him, pressured him, took advantage of his trust—we can get the POA voided and the money returned.”
“David won’t press charges against his own mother,” I said. I knew him. “Not for money. He’ll let her keep it. He’ll say it’s the price to be rid of her.”
“Maybe,” Sarah said. “But you don’t need him to press criminal charges to file a civil suit. And honestly? The money isn’t the real issue here. The real issue is what she does next. She just turned two and a half million in liquid assets into cash she can move anywhere. She’s funding something. And whatever it is, it’s aimed at you.”
She was right.
Helen wasn’t after the money.
She was after me.
She wanted to ruin me.
To take my son.
To take my company.
To leave me with nothing.
I called David.
He picked up on the first ring.
“Hey,” he said. “Everything okay at home? Leo just called me. He said he made you a picture in art class.”
“David,” I said. “We need to talk. It’s about your mother.”
The line went quiet.
“What did she do now?”
I told him about the letter.
I told him about the power of attorney.
I told him about the money.
When I finished, he didn’t speak for a long time.
“I signed that paper,” he said finally. His voice was hollow. “She told me it was for her estate planning. She said she was getting older, she wanted to make sure everything was in order if something happened to her. She said she needed me to sign a few forms so she could access her own safety deposit box. I didn’t even read it. I just… I just signed where she told me to.”
“I know,” I said. “That’s what she does. She manipulates. She lies. She makes you think you’re doing the right thing.”
“Two and a half million,” he said. He laughed bitterly. “She took every penny I had before I met you. Every dollar I saved working my way through college. Every inheritance from my dad. She just… took it.”
“Let her have it,” I said. “It’s only money. We have more than enough. The only thing that matters is Leo. And us.”
“No,” David said. His voice changed. Hardened. “No. You’re wrong. She didn’t just steal money. She stole my trust. She used me. And now she’s coming after my wife and my son. I’m done letting her hurt the people I love.”
He paused.
“File the suit,” he said. “Void the POA. Get the money back. And then… we press charges. For the fraud. For the assault. For everything. I don’t care if she’s my mother. She’s not family. Not anymore.”
I smiled.
It was cold.
May you like
Satisfied.
“Consider it done,” I said.
