Chapter 4 - The Hidden Deed
The entire courtroom went dead silent.
I looked at Richard, my heart sinking into my stomach.
"That is a lie," I whispered frantically to my lawyer.
Richard stood up and demanded to see the document the opposing counsel had just submitted.
The defense attorney smirked and handed Richard a freshly printed copy.
"As you can see, Virginia and Thomas Donovan are listed as fifty percent owners on the original property deed," the lawyer stated.
I grabbed the paper from Richard's hands and scanned the text.
It was true that my parents had co-signed the original mortgage a decade ago.
However, I had completely refinanced the house five years later and paid them back every single cent.
They had signed a quitclaim deed relinquishing all their rights to the property.
"We filed the quitclaim paperwork five years ago, Your Honor," Richard argued.
The judge peered over his reading glasses and shook his head.
"The county records show no such filing, Counselor," the judge replied.
The judge ruled that since my parents were legally half-owners on paper, they had the right to lease the property to Bethany.
Our emergency eviction was denied on the spot.
I walked out of the courtroom feeling like I was suffocating.
My parents had stolen my money, my home, and my safety in less than twenty-four hours.
Richard pulled me aside in the hallway, his eyes narrowing with suspicion.
"I personally filed that quitclaim deed with the county clerk five years ago, Sally," he told me.
He suspected someone had intentionally buried the paperwork to keep my parents on the title.
I remembered the hidden camera I had installed in my home office last year to watch my dog while I was at work.
I pulled up the live feed on my phone, hoping to catch my family slipping up.
My father was sitting at my desk, drinking my expensive scotch and talking loudly on his cell phone.
I turned the volume up all the way.
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"Yes, it worked perfectly," my father boasted to the person on the other end of the line.
"Bribing that county clerk to shred the deed five years ago was the best investment I ever made."
