Chapter 4 - The Lawyer's Warning
I sat in the plush leather chair of my attorney's office at nine o'clock the next morning.
Sarah, my lawyer and a fierce advocate for adoptive families, was reviewing the terrifying details I had just laid out.
"Forging a relinquishment document is a massive federal crime," Sarah stated, her pen tapping aggressively against her notepad.
"But combined with a pending CPS investigation, a corrupt judge might issue a temporary removal order while it gets sorted out."
The thought of strangers taking Lena away, even for one night, made my blood run cold.
"We need to file an emergency injunction to block any custody motions your mother attempts," Sarah advised.
She turned to her computer and began typing rapidly, pulling up my official county records.
"I am also running a full background check on your financial profiles, based on what your brother said last night," Sarah added.
I held David's hand tightly, praying that Mark was just being paranoid.
Suddenly, Sarah stopped typing, and all the color drained from her face.
She slowly turned the monitor around so David and I could see the screen.
"Natalie, did you authorize a second mortgage on your primary residence three weeks ago?" she asked.
I stared at the screen in absolute disbelief.
"No, our house is completely paid off," David answered for me, his voice tight with confusion.
"According to the county clerk, a loan of four hundred thousand dollars was taken out against your property," Sarah said grimly.
My parents had used the financial information I had previously given them for their expenses to completely steal my identity.
"They forged my signature to steal equity from my home," I whispered, the betrayal cutting deeper than I ever thought possible.
"It gets much worse," Sarah said, pulling up another document.
"The funds were not deposited into an account; they were wired directly to an offshore shell company."
My father's hardware business hadn't just been failing; he had been laundering money to hide his massive gambling debts.
"If this loan defaults, the bank will foreclose on your home within thirty days," Sarah warned.
"And if you lose your home, CPS will legally have to remove Lena from your care."
My parents had engineered a financial trap designed to destroy my life and take my daughter simultaneously.
My phone vibrated in my purse, displaying a text message from an unknown number.
The message read: "Look out your lawyer's window."
May you like
I rushed to the blinds and peered down at the busy street below.
A sleek black town car was idling directly across the street, and my father was sitting in the driver's seat, staring right back up at me with a sickening smile.
