Chapter 2 - The Fake Attorney
My family froze as the tall man reached the porch.
Julia looked back and forth between him and her own hired professional.
“Who is this person, Clare?” my mother demanded, her voice shrill with sudden panic.
“This is Marcus Vance,” I replied easily.
“He is a senior forensic accountant and a very real attorney.”
Marcus tipped his head slightly in greeting before turning his full attention back to Arthur.
“It has been three years since you were disbarred for forging property deeds, Arthur.”
“I must say, I am surprised you are foolish enough to try the exact same scam right in my district.”
Arthur’s face drained of color entirely.
He took a slow step backward, clutching his leather briefcase to his chest.
“I am just a consultant on this matter,” Arthur stammered nervously.
“I did not sign any binding legal documents.”
Marcus pulled a sleek tablet from his jacket pocket and tapped the screen.
“Actually, your signature is on the debt settlement filing submitted to the county clerk yesterday.”
“That constitutes wire fraud and impersonating an officer of the court.”
My father stepped in front of Julia, trying to physically block Marcus.
“We do not care who you are,” my father growled.
“We have a legally binding transfer of title, and Clare is trespassing.”
Marcus smiled and held up his tablet to show them a digital seal.
“You have a piece of paper signed by a man who has no legal authority to file anything.”
“Therefore, your transfer is completely null and void.”
Arthur did not wait to hear another word.
He turned around and sprinted toward his parked car, completely abandoning my family on the porch.
Julia watched her expensive lawyer drive away in sheer horror.
“You paid him twenty thousand dollars in advance!” she shrieked at my father.
My mother’s face turned bright red with rage.
“This is a cheap trick, Clare, but it will not save you.”
“We still have the original debt documents proving your grandparents owed a massive fortune.”
“We will just take them to a real judge and have you thrown out on the street tomorrow.”
I leaned against the doorframe, feeling more confident than I had in years.
“You cannot take those documents to a judge, Mom.”
“And why is that?” she sneered.
Marcus answered for me.
“Because we already ran a background check on the collection agency listed on those unpaid debts.”
“The company was completely fabricated.”
“It was registered to a shell corporation exactly three weeks ago, under Julia’s home address.”
My sister gasped loudly, realizing she had been caught red-handed in federal fraud.
But just as I thought they were finally going to surrender, my father reached into his coat.
He pulled out a thick envelope wrapped in red legal tape.
“I knew you would be stubborn, Clare, so I made a backup plan.”
He ripped the envelope open and shoved a highly official document into Marcus’s hands.
“Check the signature on that, Mister Vance,” my father said with an evil grin.
Marcus scanned the paper, and for the first time, his confident smile vanished entirely.
May you like
“Clare,” Marcus whispered, his face turning pale.
“This is a direct, emergency eviction order signed by the district Supreme Court judge.”
