Chapter 3 - The Broken Trust
Vanessa stared at her sister in absolute, stunned silence.
The dust from the demolished kitchen seemed to suck all the oxygen out of the room.
"My house is fully paid off," Vanessa said, her voice dropping to a dangerous whisper.
David immediately pulled his phone out and began accessing the county clerk's digital database.
"Someone would need the original deed and your authorized signature to take out a loan against the equity," the lawyer explained rapidly.
Vanessa pulled out her phone and dialed her mother's number without hesitating.
Her mother answered on the second ring, sounding unnervingly cheerful.
"Vanessa, darling, I hear you came home from your trip a little early."
Vanessa bypassed the greetings entirely.
"Did you take out a fraudulent loan against my property, Mom?"
There was a heavy sigh on the other end of the line, followed by a dismissive clicking of the tongue.
"You are being incredibly dramatic, just like you always are."
"Answer the question, Mom."
"Todd needed an investment for his new cryptocurrency venture, and you have all that equity just sitting there doing nothing."
Vanessa felt physically sick at the casual tone her mother was using.
"I am a single woman, I worked for eleven years to pay off this mortgage."
"Exactly," her mother fired back defensively.
"You are single and don't have children, so you don't need a house this big anyway."
David tapped Vanessa on the shoulder, showing her a scanned document on his phone screen.
It was a quitclaim deed, transferring ownership of the house from Vanessa to a joint trust controlled by her mother and Todd.
"Mom, you forged my signature on a federal banking document," Vanessa stated coldly.
"Oh, stop it," her mother scoffed.
"I didn't forge anything, your ex-fiancé Michael still works at the bank, and he was more than happy to push the paperwork through for me."
Vanessa's heart stopped.
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Michael was the man she had called off her wedding to five years ago after catching him cheating.
He had just weaponized his position at the bank to help her family steal her home out of pure spite.
