Chapter 12 - THE MONEY TRAIL
“Karla.”
She wouldn’t look at me.
“What did Mom mean?”
Nothing.
Nathan closed the office door.
“Karla.”
She started crying.
“I was going to tell you.”
“When?”
“I don’t know.”
I felt anger building again.
“How much more?”
She whispered, “Twenty-five thousand.”
“What?”
“From the original loan.”
“But Dad said you received sixty.”
“I did.”
“And twenty-five went somewhere else?”
She nodded.
“Where?”
She looked at me.
“To Evan.”
My ex-husband.
I actually felt dizzy.
“For what?”
“He had gambling debt.”
I sat down.
Karla continued quickly.
“Mom found out. She said if Evan’s debt got worse, it could destroy your marriage.”
“So she paid him?”
“She paid the debt.”
“With money borrowed against my apartment.”
“Yes.”
“Without telling me.”
“Yes.”
Then something clicked.
“How did Mom know about Evan’s gambling?”
Karla said nothing.
I knew.
“Evan told her.”
“Yes.”
My mother had known my marriage was collapsing long before I did.
She had helped my husband hide debt.
Then helped herself to my identity to pay it.
And when he later helped forge a power of attorney, it wasn’t the beginning.
It was repayment.
I called him again.
This time, Nathan recorded notes while I spoke.
“Did my mother pay your gambling debt?”
Evan sounded defeated.
“Yes.”
“How much?”
“Twenty-five thousand.”
“And then she asked you to witness the fake power of attorney.”
“Yes.”
“Was that the deal?”
“No.”
“Then why did you do it?”
“She reminded me what she’d done.”
I laughed quietly.
Blackmail.
My mother didn’t help people.
She purchased leverage.
“What else did she make you do?”
Silence.
“Evan.”
“There was a bank form.”
My blood went cold.
“What bank form?”
“She wanted information about your savings.”
I closed my eyes.
My divorce had left me with less money than expected.
At the time, I assumed legal fees and moving costs had eaten through it.
“Did she take money from my savings?”
“I don’t know.”
“Did you give her access?”
“Yes.”
I hung up.
Nathan was already typing.
Within forty-eight hours, another account appeared.
Years earlier, three withdrawals totaling $18,400 had been made from a savings account I rarely used.
The destination?
A joint account held by my parents.
I stared at the evidence.
My mother had not made one desperate mistake.
She had built a system.
The apartment.
The loan.
The fake bank account.
The false power of attorney.
My ex-husband.
Karla.
Even Dad.
Everybody had become part of it.
Nathan looked at me.
“We can pursue restitution.”
“I want the apartment back under my full control.”
“It already is.”
“I mean physically.”
“You want them out?”
I thought of Sophia.
“Dad can stay temporarily if he cooperates.”
“And Diane?”
I didn’t hesitate.
“No.”
That evening, Dad called.
“Your mother won’t come home.”
“That’s her choice.”
“She wants me to choose.”
“Between what?”
“You and her.”
I closed my eyes.
“No, Dad. She wants you to choose between consequences and pretending nothing happened.”
He stayed silent.
Then he said, “I gave the police access to my old business records.”
That surprised me.
“Why?”
“Because I’m done helping her lie.”
For the first time, I believed him.
Then someone began pounding on the boarding house door downstairs.
Mrs. Gable shouted.
I ran into the hall.
A woman screamed my name from the lobby.
Mom.
When I reached the stairs, she was standing below, wild-eyed.
“You think you won?”
Mrs. Gable blocked her path.
Mom held up an envelope.
“You don’t even know what your lawyer filed.”
I looked at Nathan’s name on my phone.
Then at her envelope.
“What are you talking about?”
May you like
She laughed.
“I’m talking about the fact that your precious apartment is being foreclosed on.”
