Chapter 10 - The Setup
The transfer hit an account that looked like mine.
It wasn’t.
Gwendolyn created it six weeks earlier.
Then she moved $90,000 from the fake Elaine company into it.
Paige took money too.
Paige knew.
Paige benefited.
Maya filed an emergency fraud notice.
Then something worse happened.
Dad signed an affidavit.
I read it in my kitchen at midnight.
He claimed I had known about the Mesa transfer since I was nineteen.
He claimed I approved the rental investments verbally.
He claimed I asked him to keep the paperwork informal because I “did not want tax complications.”
It was a lie.
My father had put it under oath.
I called him.
“Why?”
He sounded tired.
“Gwen says this is the only way to keep us out of court.”
“You’re already in court.”
“She says if we show you agreed, this can settle.”
“I didn’t agree.”
“You benefited.”
“How?”
“You always had a home.”
I couldn’t speak for a second.
“My money bought your rentals and your answer is that I had a bedroom?”
“Paige—”
“No. Say it again.”
He didn’t.
I asked, “Did Gwendolyn write the affidavit?”
Silence.
“Did you read it?”
“Yes.”
“And signed it anyway?”
“Yes.”
That hurt worse than the deed.
A car was parked outside.
Dad.
Alone.
I opened the gate.
He came in holding a grocery bag.
Inside were Mom’s Christmas dishes.
The ones Gwendolyn told me she donated years ago.
“I found these in the storage unit.”
I stared at him.
“Why are you here?”
His hands shook.
“Because Gwen doesn’t know I found the second ledger.”
“What ledger?”
He pulled a black notebook from his coat.
“She kept track of everything.”
I opened it.
Payments.
Forged documents.
Cash withdrawals.
Names.
Then one entry made my blood freeze.
PAIGE - HILLSIDE - BACKUP PLAN IF SHE FIGHTS.
May you like
Beside it was a phone number.
Dad whispered, “She hired someone to get into your house.”
