Chapter 1 - The Fallout
My phone did not stop buzzing for three straight hours.
I sat at my kitchen island, sipping black coffee while the notifications piled up on my screen.
Vanessa had resorted to calling me from her husband’s phone, but I blocked his number too.
My mother left a voicemails sobbing about how I was destroying our family over a few dollars.
A few dollars was her way of describing a fourteen thousand dollar party for a ten-year-old child.
I closed my laptop and prepared to head to my architectural firm, feeling lighter than I had in years.
Just as I grabbed my car keys, my doorbell rang with a sharp, aggressive buzz.
I looked through the peephole and saw the event manager from the Brookhaven Grand Hotel standing on my porch.
I opened the door cautiously, keeping the chain engaged.
The manager held a thick clipboard and looked at me with a mixture of annoyance and panic.
He told me that the credit card on file for Mason’s birthday extravaganza had just been declined.
I informed him that I was not the host of the party and that he needed to speak with my sister.
He shook his head and pulled a signed contract from his clipboard.
He said that my name was listed as the primary financial guarantor on the event.
I told him I never signed any contract with his hotel.
He slid a copy of the paperwork through the crack in the door.
My signature was forged perfectly at the bottom of the page.
Vanessa had not just expected me to pay, she had committed felony fraud to ensure I had no choice.
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Before I could process the forgery, my bank sent an emergency alert to my phone.
A new line of credit for fifty thousand dollars had just been approved in my name.
