Chapter 17 - The Truth on the Record
At the next hearing, the courtroom smelled of polished wood and old paper.
I wore a navy dress and covered the healing stitches with a small bandage.
I did not try to look younger.
I tried to look like myself.
Marcus sat beside his lawyer with a face arranged into professional sorrow.
Diane held tissues.
Marissa stared at me as though she could force me to apologize by willpower alone.
Tyler sat alone behind them.
Leah presented the chain of events carefully: Marcus's proposal, the disputed deed, the irregular notary information, the recorded charitable trust deed, the lender's canceled meeting, and the attempted removal of papers from my home.
She didn't embellish.
She didn't need to.
The proposed witness testified that he had seen me sign the disputed transfer.
Leah asked him to identify the room.
He described Marcus's office.
“On what date?” she asked.
He gave the date on the document.
I had been at a funeral that day, surrounded by relatives, and photographs placed me there for hours.
The witness paused.
Then Leah asked about the five-thousand-dollar payment.
His face tightened.
He said it was consulting work.
He couldn't describe the work.
The judge told both sides that serious factual questions remained and extended the temporary protection while referring the suspected forged documents to appropriate investigators.
The court did not decide anyone's criminal guilt that afternoon.
But it no longer treated the papers as an ordinary family misunderstanding.
Outside the courtroom, Marcus cornered Tyler near the stairwell.
“You owe us loyalty,” Marcus snapped.
Tyler looked down at the floor, the way he'd always done around domineering people.
Then he raised his head.
“I gave you the copies,” he said.
“I didn't give you permission to forge her name.”
Marcus stepped closer.
“You'll regret saying that where people can hear.”
May you like
Tyler reached into his pocket.
His phone was already recording.
