Chapter 3: The Lie Beneath My Name
I caught the corner of the paper before Ashley could pull it away.
“Let go,” she said.
“You put my name on it.”
“It’s a draft.”
“Then why are you hiding it?”
George stood.
“This conversation has become emotional.”
I looked directly at him.
“Sit down.
Your daughter signed my name.”
“You don’t know that,” Ashley snapped.
Daniel rubbed both hands over his face.
“Ashley said it was only to show the bank where the money might come from.”
I turned toward him.
“You knew?”
“I knew she prepared something.
I didn’t know she signed it.”
Ashley released the paper so suddenly that it nearly tore.
“Stop acting frightened, Daniel.
Nothing was final.”
The document stated that I was giving Daniel and Ashley $180,000 with no expectation of repayment.
I held it up.
“This isn’t an idea.
It’s a declaration.”
Patricia shifted in her chair.
“Ashley, you said she had agreed.”
“She would have if everyone had stopped upsetting her.”
“You mean if I hadn’t been told?” I asked.
Ashley folded her arms.
“We were going to explain everything once the bank approved us.”
“You planned to explain my gift to me after spending it?”
Daniel rose, but I stepped back.
“Mom, please.
We can cancel it.”
“You told me nobody was forcing me.”
“I thought Ashley was still working out the numbers.”
“You chose not to ask because the answer might trouble you.”
Lucy appeared in the hallway, clutching a stuffed rabbit.
“Grandma, are you selling our bedrooms?”
Every adult at the table went still.
I crouched beside her.
“No, sweetheart.
Who told you that?”
“Mom said we were getting your house after you moved.”
Ashley seized Lucy’s hand.
“Go upstairs.”
“But Grandma—”
“Now.”
Lucy ran, and her bedroom door closed above us.
I placed the paper inside my handbag.
“This comes with me.”
Ashley blocked the doorway.
“That contains our private financial information.”
“It also contains my false signature.”
“You take that paper, and you won’t see Lucy or Ben until you apologize.”
Daniel’s head lifted.
“Ashley, don’t use the kids.”
“Your mother is destroying their future!”
I looked at him.
“Are you going to let her keep them from me?”
His mouth opened, but no words came.
“Thank you,” I said.
“That is the clearest answer you’ve given me.”
Outside, my fingers shook so badly that I dropped my car keys.
Claire had driven me, and she picked them up without speaking.
Lucy pressed both palms against the upstairs window.
Ashley pulled the curtain shut behind her.
In the car, Claire took the paper from my hand.
“You’re coming home with me,” she said.
“I need to change my locks.”
“We’ll do that first.”
“I may have just lost my grandchildren.”
Claire gripped my wrist.
“Look at me.
Ashley said that because she saw you stop surrendering.
You have not lost those children.”
My breath broke.
Claire pulled me against her shoulder and waited while I cried.
Her phone rang before we left the driveway.
“Mrs.
Hale?” a man asked when Claire put the call on speaker.
“My name is Mark Ellis.
I’m the mortgage broker handling Daniel and Ashley’s application.”
I wiped my face.
“Did you receive a gift letter with my signature?”
“Yes.
That’s why I’m calling.
I found your number independently.”
“Why?”
“Because Ashley also submitted a document claiming authority over your finances.”
Claire’s grip tightened around the phone.
“What document?” I asked.
Mark paused.
“A durable power of attorney,” he said.
May you like
“And Mrs.
Hale, it has already been notarized.”
