Chapter 6 - The Long Con
I stared at the gold pocket watch resting on the scratched glass counter.
My father had promised to pass that watch down to me before he died of cancer.
My mother had used that fake burglary story to force me to work two jobs in high school to replace our "stolen" savings.
I realized in that exact moment that my entire life had been a calculated financial farm for my family.
I purchased the watch back from the owner using the cash Brittany had tried to steal.
I left my screaming sister in the pawnshop and drove to the office of a trusted lawyer friend.
His name was Marcus, and he owed me a massive favor for helping him renovate his house years ago.
I slammed the forged lease and the pocket watch onto his desk, demanding immediate legal action.
Marcus listened to my horrifying story and immediately pulled up my mother's financial records.
He typed furiously on his keyboard, running a deep background check on Teresa and my sisters.
“Ethan, this is much worse than a forged apartment lease,” Marcus said grimly.
He turned his computer monitor around so I could see the glaring red numbers on the screen.
My mother had secretly opened six massive credit card accounts using Emily's stolen social security number.
The total debt amounted to over fifty thousand dollars in just two months.
“They maxed out Emily's credit to fund their lifestyle while you paid all their physical bills,” Marcus explained.
I felt a sickening wave of nausea wash over me as I realized the true depth of their evil.
“But that is not even the worst part,” Marcus added, pulling up a secondary real estate document.
“Your mother just used those stolen funds to put a massive down payment on a luxury house in Florida.”
She was planning to flee the state and leave my pregnant wife to face federal bankruptcy.
I told Marcus to print every single document, because I was going to destroy her life today.
Marcus handed me the files, but his desk phone suddenly rang with an emergency dispatch alert.
May you like
“Ethan,” Marcus whispered, his face turning completely pale.
“The police were just dispatched to your apartment for a violent domestic disturbance.”
