Chapter 8 - THE LAWSUIT AND THE FRAUD
The next morning,
I was back in Robert's office,
my face pale and my eyes dark from another sleepless night on Eleanor's sofa.
Robert was staring at his computer screen,
his face pale,
his jaw clenched so tight I thought his teeth might break.
"Margaret,"
he said,
his voice barely a whisper.
"It's worse than we thought."
"Much worse."
"What is it?"
I asked,
clutching my teacup as if it were a life preserver.
"Did they find something?"
"Matthew didn't just forge a lease,"
Robert said,
turning the screen toward me.
"He forged your signature on a power of attorney document three weeks ago,
while you were away with Helen."
"And then,
he used that power of attorney to take out a home equity line of credit against your house."
"A loan for one hundred and fifty thousand dollars."
I felt the room tilt,
the air turning ice-cold around me.
"One hundred and fifty thousand?"
I whispered,
my voice failing me.
"How?
How could they do that?"
"He used a crooked notary,"
Robert explained,
his fist slamming onto the desk.
"A friend of Jessica's,
most likely."
"The money was transferred to an offshore account yesterday morning,
right after you returned."
"They were planning to take the money and leave you with a foreclosed home,
Margaret."
"They didn't just want to live there,
they wanted to ruin you."
I sat in silence,
the sheer magnitude of the betrayal washing over me.
My son had not just made a mistake;
he had actively planned to destroy me financially,
to leave his elderly mother homeless and bankrupt,
all to satisfy his own greed and the demands of his wicked wife.
"What do we do?"
I asked,
my voice no longer trembling,
but filled with a cold,
sharp edge that surprised Robert.
"There are two ways to handle this,
Margaret,"
he said,
looking at me with deep concern.
"We can file a civil suit to dispute the loan,
but that will take years,
and the bank might still foreclose in the meantime."
"Or,
you can go to the district attorney and file criminal charges against Matthew for grand theft and forgery."
"If you do that,
the bank will freeze the loan,
and the state will prosecute him."
"But Margaret,
if he is convicted,
he will go to prison."
"For a very long time."
I closed my eyes,
seeing the face of my little boy Matthew,
the way he used to hold my hand when we walked to the park.
And then I saw his face from yesterday,
lying to the police officer,
calling me crazy,
locking me out in the cold.
I opened my eyes,
looking straight into Robert's.
"Give me the papers,"
I said,
May you like
my voice as cold as winter stone.
"I want him prosecuted."
