Chapter 2 — The Deed
Chapter 2 — The Deed
Two police vehicles stopped outside the mansion.
A third car followed.
It was a black sedan.
Samuel Brooks stepped out beneath a large umbrella, carrying a leather briefcase. At sixty-eight, Samuel moved with the quiet confidence of a man who had spent four decades watching rich people destroy themselves with arrogance.
He walked directly to Emma.
“Are you hurt?”
“No.”
“Has anyone touched you?”
“No. They changed the locks and threw my belongings outside.”
Samuel glanced at the scattered baby clothes.
His jaw tightened.
One of the officers approached Victoria.
“Ma’am, we received a report of an unlawful lockout.”
Victoria lifted her chin.
“This woman is my son’s estranged wife. This is a private family matter.”
Samuel opened his briefcase.
“It stopped being private when you illegally removed the lawful owner.”
He handed the officer a certified document.
Victoria tried to snatch it.
Samuel pulled it back.
“You’ll get your turn.”
The officer read the first page, then looked at Emma.
“You’re listed as the sole owner.”
Ryan stepped forward.
“That can’t be right.”
Emma almost laughed.
His first full sentence to her was not an apology.
It was disbelief that she owned something he thought belonged to him.
Samuel removed a second document.
“The property was transferred to Emma Carter three years ago. The sale was recorded with the county, notarized, taxed, and legally completed.”
Victoria shook her head violently.
“My father-in-law was sick.”
“He was eighty-two,” Samuel replied. “He was not incompetent.”
“He would never give this house to her.”
“He didn’t give it to her. He sold it to her.”
Claire folded her arms.
“For how much?”
Samuel looked at her.
“You are not a party to this transaction.”
“Tell us,” Victoria demanded.
Emma answered instead.
“One dollar.”
Victoria stared at her.
Then she laughed.
The sound was sharp and desperate.
“That proves fraud.”
“No,” Samuel said. “It proves consideration. The property had already been placed in a protected trust. Mr. Carter had the legal right to sell it for any amount he chose.”
Ryan looked at Emma as if she had become a stranger.
“You knew this whole time?”
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
Emma held his gaze.
“Your grandfather asked me not to.”
Victoria stepped closer.
“My husband would have overturned it.”
“He tried,” Samuel said. “And failed.”
The officer gestured toward the front door.
“You’ll need to let Mrs. Carter inside.”
Victoria’s face turned red.
“She is not entering this house.”
The second officer spoke firmly.
“Then you may be arrested for unlawful exclusion.”
Silence fell.
Victoria slowly removed the new electronic key from her pocket.
Emma did not reach for it.
“Keep it,” she said.
Then she turned to Samuel.
“Change every lock again.”
Samuel nodded.
Emma looked at the people standing inside her home.
“And prepare formal notices.”
Ryan’s voice cracked.
“Notices for what?”
May you like
Emma picked up her suitcase.
“Eviction.”
