Chapter 7
By noon, I had an attorney.
Her name was Rebecca Shaw.
Marissa found her through a coworker whose divorce had involved hidden assets.
I sat across from Rebecca with two folders, my laptop, and a headache that felt like a metal band around my skull.
She listened without interrupting.
When I finished, she asked one question.
“Does Michael have access to the title documents for the lake property?”
My stomach sank.
“They’re in our home safe.”
“Who knows the combination?”
“Both of us.”
Rebecca immediately picked up her phone.
She arranged for a title search.
Then she told me to contact the bank’s fraud department regarding the joint savings transfers and the attempted refinance.
“Do not accuse anyone beyond what you can document,” she said. “Preserve everything.”
“I have pictures.”
“Good.”
“What about the forged signature?”
“We’ll have it examined if necessary.”
I looked at her.
“Can I stop him from taking anything else?”
“Yes.”
She explained emergency financial protections we could request during a divorce filing.
The word divorce landed heavily.
I stared at my hands.
Rebecca noticed.
“You don’t have to decide everything emotionally today.”
“I think he already decided for me.”
She nodded.
At three, the title search came back.
The lake property was still in my name.
I nearly cried from relief.
Then Rebecca pointed at another line.
“But someone requested payoff and ownership information six days ago.”
“Who?”
“The request came from a lending company.”
I knew before she said the name.
Pike Financial Services.
Raymond Pike.
My hands went cold.
Rebecca leaned back.
“This is no longer just a marriage problem.”
I knew.
I called my mother.
Helen answered cheerfully.
“Sarah, I was just going to call you.”
“Did you know Michael was meeting Lauren?”
Silence.
Her voice changed.
“What happened?”
“Answer me.”
“I knew they were helping Diane.”
“How?”
“Lauren mentioned it.”
“When?”
“A few months ago.”
My chest tightened.
“And you never thought to tell me?”
“I thought you knew.”
That phrase again.
Everyone thought I knew.
Nobody bothered checking.
“Did you know they were meeting every Thursday?”
“No.”
“Did you know they kissed?”
My mother gasped.
“What?”
For once, her shock sounded genuine.
“Lauren kissed my husband.”
“Oh, Sarah.”
“Don’t.”
“I had no idea.”
“Did you know Diane was in debt?”
“Yes.”
I closed my eyes.
“How much?”
“Lauren said around two hundred thousand.”
“It’s closer to four.”
“Oh my God.”
“Did Lauren ever ask you for my financial information?”
Another pause.
That pause told me enough.
“Mom.”
“She asked when Dad’s lake property transferred to you.”
I stood.
“Why?”
“She said you might sell it.”
“I never said that.”
“I didn’t know.”
“What else did you tell her?”
“Sarah, don’t speak to me like I’m part of this.”
“You gave information about my property to someone secretly meeting my husband.”
“She is your sister.”
“And he is my husband.”
My voice broke.
“Apparently neither word means what I thought it meant.”
Mom started crying.
I hated that I felt guilty.
I hated that guilt still worked on me.
“Why does Lauren always get protected?” I asked.
“What?”
“Since we were children.”
“This is not the time.”
“It is exactly the time.”
Lauren had wrecked my first car at seventeen.
Mom told Dad I had been driving.
Lauren borrowed money and never repaid it.
Mom said she was struggling.
Lauren insulted me at my wedding.
Mom said she was emotional.
Every disaster around my sister eventually became someone else’s responsibility.
“I’m not covering for her,” Mom said.
“You already did.”
I ended the call.
That evening, Michael appeared at Marissa’s house.
I watched from an upstairs window as he stood on the porch.
Marissa opened the door but didn’t let him inside.
I went downstairs.
“Emma isn’t here,” I said.
She was upstairs with headphones and a movie.
Michael looked exhausted.
“Mom’s home.”
“Good.”
“She wants to apologize.”
“I don’t care.”
“She knows she crossed a line.”
“She committed assault.”
His eyes hardened.
“You hit her too.”
“After she hit me and tried again.”
He looked away.
I crossed my arms.
“Why did Raymond Pike request information on my lake property?”
Michael’s face went blank.
Too blank.
“Who?”
“Try again.”
“I know Raymond, but I didn’t ask him to do that.”
“Did your mother?”
“I don’t know.”
“Did Lauren?”
“I don’t know.”
“You know remarkably little about the fraud happening around you.”
“It isn’t fraud.”
“Then why did you forge my signature?”
“I didn’t.”
I froze.
Yesterday he had said he could explain it.
Today he denied it.
“Who did?”
“I don’t know.”
“Was it Lauren?”
“No.”
“Diane?”
“No.”
“Then who?”
Michael lowered his voice.
“My father.”
I stared at him.
“Your father has been dead for three years.”
“The signature page was from an old document.”
“What old document?”
“One you signed when Dad was alive.”
My skin crawled.
“You reused my signature.”
He looked miserable.
“I didn’t create it.”
“But you knew.”
Silence.
“That is still fraud.”
“I was trying to save Mom.”
“No. You were trying to save her with my money.”
He stepped closer.
“I made terrible choices.”
“You kissed my sister.”
“I stopped it.”
“You met her again the next Thursday.”
He flinched.
I had guessed.
His face confirmed it.
“Get off Marissa’s property.”
“Sarah, please.”
“No.”
He took another step.
Marissa appeared behind me holding her phone.
“Leave.”
Michael looked at her, then at me.
Finally he backed away.
Before turning, he said, “Ask Claire why my mother really pays her.”
“I did.”
His eyes narrowed.
“Then ask Claire what happened the night my father died.”
I stopped.
Michael gave me one last look.
May you like
“She’s not telling you everything either.”
Then he walked away.
