Chapter 6 - The Cold Awakening
I gripped the phone tightly, my knuckles turning completely white.
My father continued to sob, his voice trembling with a level of fear I had never heard from him before.
He explained that he was helping Derek unpack when he discovered the heavy, black firearm hidden in a duffel bag.
I asked him if my mother knew about the weapon, but he said she had left to buy groceries for a celebration dinner.
My father then dropped another bombshell that completely shattered my understanding of the situation.
He told me he never actually knew that my mother and Derek were forcing me out onto the street.
My mother had told him I was moving out voluntarily because I had received a massive promotion and bought my own luxury condo.
They had completely isolated him from the truth, using his declining health to keep him entirely in the dark.
I felt a sharp pang of sympathy for the man who had been manipulated just as badly as I had.
I quickly explained the reality of the situation, telling him about the forged second mortgage and the stolen money.
My father gasped in pure horror as I revealed the massive financial crimes committed by his own wife.
Before he could process the betrayal, a loud banging noise echoed through the phone line.
I could hear heavy boots stomping across the hardwood floors of the house.
My father panicked and whispered that strange men in heavy work jackets were currently ripping the furnace out of the basement.
I calmly told him that I had authorized the repossession because I refused to pay for a house I no longer lived in.
He didn't argue with me; instead, he agreed that they absolutely deserved it.
I warned him to pack a bag and leave the house immediately before Derek found out he had discovered the gun.
My father promised to go stay at his brother's cabin in the woods until the dust settled.
I ended the call and immediately dialed Sophie's emergency legal hotline to update her on the escalating danger.
Sophie answered on the first ring, her voice tight with professional urgency.
She told me she had just filed the massive fraud lawsuit and placed a legal lien on the property.
However, she had also received a disturbing alert from her private investigator.
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The private investigator discovered that Derek didn't leave Seattle because of a simple gambling debt.
He had actually embezzled three million dollars from a ruthless organized crime syndicate, and their enforcers had just landed at our local airport.
